[I.  3Sfogra$)feal  Series. 


No.  1. 


MEMOIR 


THE   HON.   SAMUEL  HOWE. 


WITH  OTHER  NOTICES. 


BY    REV.    RUFUS    ELLIS. 


PUBLISHED    BY    THE 

Sim  erf  can  Slnf  tartan  Stesocfatfon. 


BOSTON: 
WM.  CROSBY  AND  II.  P.  NICHOLS, 

111  WASHINGTON  STREET. 

1850. 

v. 


CAMBRIDGE  : 
METCALF  AND  COMPANY, 

PRINTERS   TO   THE  UNIVERSITY. 


t. 


THE  sources  from  which  the  materials  for  the  fol 
lowing  Memoir  have  been  derived  are  mainly  these  :  — 
A  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Character  of  Hon.  Samuel 
Howe,  by  Rev.  E.  B.  Hall,  D.  D.,  of  Providence,  R.  I. ; 
Addresses  by  Chief  Justice  Parker,  and  the  Justices, 
Williams  and  Strong ;  and  a  private  Memoir  in  manu 
script,  by  the  widow  of  the  late  Judge  Howe,  to  which 
the  writer  was  kindly  permitted  to  refer. 


M214823 


MEMOIR. 


IT  is  the  object  of  these  pages  to  recommend 
a  manly  Christian  life  to  young  and  active  minds, 
to  warm  and  earnest  hearts,  by  presenting  a  picture 
of  a  truly  wise  and  good  man,  who  found  great  joy 
and  much  success  in  pursuing  such  a  life  as  an 
end.  An  example  is  the  best  of  arguments.  No 
other  plea  can  be  so  eloquent  as  that  of  a  great 
moral  achievement ;  it  makes  virtue  real,  it  res 
cues  goodness  from  the  dream-regions  of  theory, 
and  gives  to  truth  a  habitation  upon  our  solid 
earth.  And  although  the  example  of  Christ  is  of 
infinite  value,  we  need  besides  the  quickening  in 
fluence  of  lives  purely  human,  —  of  lives  of  men 
wholly  like  ourselves,  —  of  men  who  wrought  no 
miracles,  and  who  were  joined  to  God  only  as  we 
are  joined  to  him.  If  those  who  shall  read  these 
pages  are  not  quickened  by  the  story  inscribed 
1* 


upon  them,  the  fault  will  not  lie  in  the  life,  but  in 
the  unskilfulness  of  him  who  seeks  to  record  it. 

Twenty-one  years  have  elapsed  since  the  Hon. 
Samuel  Howe,  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  for  Massachusetts,  was  taken  from 
us  by  the  hand  of  death.  His  loss  was  widely 
and  deeply  felt,  not  only  by  the  members  of  the 
profession  which  he  honored  and  adorned,  but  by 
the  community  at  large.  The  sad  event  called 
forth  from  every  quarter  eloquent  and  affectionate 
tributes  to  his  memory,  in  which  the  high  sense 
so  generally  entertained  of  his  singular  worth  was 
fitly  expressed.  And  he  has  not  been  forgotten. 
The  name  of  such  a  man  does  not  soon  cease 
from  human  lips.  The  many  who  knew  him 
well,  the  many  who  were  made  wiser  and  better 
through  his  influence,  still  speak  with  unfeigned 
sorrow  of  our  loss,  and  feel  that  we  are  all  the 
poorer  because  he  was  taken.  He  did  not  live, 
neither  did  he  die,  unto  himself.  But  the  story  of 
his  life  has  never  been  put  within  the  reach  of  all 
who  might  be  profited  by  it.  It  has  not  been 
told  to  the  children  who  have  cpme  on  to  the  stage 
since  he  left  it.  The  delineations  of  his  character 
to  be  found  in  pamphlets,  reviews,  and  daily  jour 
nals  published  at  the  time  of  his  death,  are  not 
likely  to  come  into  their  hands,  who  would  be 


HON.    SAMUEL   HOWE.  7 

guided  aright,  in  the  day  of  youth,  by  his  example, 
an  example  for  the  young,  of  all  others.  We  who 
were  born  into  the  views  of  religious  truth  which 
he  laboriously  sought,  and  found  with  so  much 
joy,  have  not  all  heard  of  his  spiritual  experience 
of  what  was  to  him  a  happy  emancipation.  And 
in  a  world  so  full  of  evil,  goodness  should  be 
saved,  like  treasure,  not  indeed  to  be  hoarded,  but 
to  be  scattered  far  and  wide.  Let  the  just  live  in 
blessed  remembrance. 

SAMUEL  HOWE,  the  youngest  of  six  children, 
was  the  son  of  Dr.  Estes  Howe,  of  Belchertown, 
Massachusetts,  and  was  born  on  the  20th  day  of 
June,  1785.  The  maiden  name  of  his  mother 
was  Susan  D wight.  His  grandfather,  Samuel 
Howe,  removed  to  Belchertown  from  Rutland, 
Massachusetts. 

Dr.  Howe  was  a  surgeon  in  the  army  of  the 
Revolution  ;  he  was  an  exceedingly  laborious  man 
in  an  exceedingly  laborious  sphere  of  duty,  and 
though  he  did  not  become  rich,  he  acquired 
enough  for  the  suitable  education  of  his  children, 
and  for  his  own  support  in  the  time  of  old  age. 
The  fruits  of  his  labor  were  cheerfully  bestowed 
upon  his  children,  and  he  was  especially  desirous 
to  secure  for  them  that  liberal  culture,  the  want  of 
which  he  himself  sorely  felt.  Three  months  after 


8  MEMOIR    OF 

the  birth  of  Samuel,  Dr.  Howe  was  called  to  part 
with  his  wife.  She  died  of  consumption  at  West 
Springfield,  on  her  return  from  New  Haven, 
whither  she  had  journeyed  in  the  hope  of  regain 
ing  her  health.  For  ten  years  the  children  were 
motherless  and  the  household  desolate.  After  the 
expiration  of  this  time,  Dr.  Howe  was  again  mar 
ried  ;  but  as  the  second  wife  was  already  the 
mother  of  eight  children,  the  domestic  privileges  of 
his  family  were  not  much  increased.  The  Doc 
tor  seems  to  have  devoted  himself,  so  far  as  ur 
gent  professional  calls  would  admit,  to  the  care  of 
this  youngest  child,  as  the  most  dependent ;  but, 
on  the  whole,  the  days  of  Samuel's  childhood 
were  not  sunny,  and  were  not  recalled  with  much 
satisfaction.  Ten  years  unillumined  by  the  sweet 
smile  of  a  mother's  love  have  not  much  bright 
ness  to  leave  upon  their  path. 

There  was  another  pressure,  which  could  not 
have  been  light  upon  a  mind  like  that  of  young 
Howe.  We  mean  the  want  of  books.  It  is 
hard  for  us,  in  our  day,  suffering  as  most  of 
us  do  from  the  opposite  evil,  to  realize  what  a 
want  this  was.  The  young  persons  who  grow 
up  in  these  times,  especially  in  cities  and  large 
towns,  can  have  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  slight  aids 
and  slender  food  with  which  growing  and  hungry 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE. 

minds,  in  retired  places  like  Belchertown,  sixty 
years  ago,  were  obliged  to  content  themselves. 
There  were  then  no  institutes  or  lyceums,  with 
their  collections  of  books ;  no  social,  and  scarcely 
a  private,  library  could  be  found.  Always  pas 
sionately  fond  of  books,  keeping  one  by  him  in 
after  life  for  perusal,  whilst  others  wasted  valu 
able  minutes  in  fretting  about  inevitable  delays, 
youn^  Howe  found  in  his  father's  dwelling  only 
Flavel,  Tillotson,  Watts,  and  a  volume  of  fairy 
tales.  He  repeatedly  rode  miles  to  borrow  a 
book,  and  the  loan  of  Robinson  Crusoe  and  of 
The  Fool  of  Quality  from  a  kind  friend  in  Am- 
herst  was  always  gratefully  remembered. 

The  use  which  was  made  of  books,  when  they 
were  so  hard  to  be  obtained,  may  help  the  young 
student  to  employ  them  aright  now  that  they  so 
abound.  Gibbon's  advice  is,  to  read  much,  rather 
than  to  read  many  books.  There  is  an  unspeak 
able  advantage  in  the  thorough  and  oft-repeated 
perusal  of  a  standard  work,  well  selected  for  some 
specific  purpose.  In  process  of  time,  a  book  so 
read  becomes  almost  literally  our  own.  We  could 
almost  construct  such  a  one  ourselves.  A  mind 
trained  with  few  helps  may  not  receive  so  large 
and  so  varied  a  culture  as  is  now  easily  obtained  ; 
but  what  is  wanting  in  variety  is  more  than  com- 


10  MEMOIR    OF 

pensated  in  exactness,  and  the  healthy  and  well- 
developed  root  secures  in  the  end  a  vigorous  and 
luxuriant  growth  of  branches  and  of  foliage.  The 
appetite  for  intellectual  food  is  kept  very  keen  by 
the  constant  exercise  to  which  the  mind  is  sub 
jected,  and  the  little  nourishment  that'  can  be  ob 
tained  is  well  digested.  Some  of  the  hardiest  in 
tellects  that  the  world  has  ever  known  have  been 
nurtured  under  such  circumstances. 

The  public  school  of  Belchertown  afforded  very 
tolerable  instruction  during  the  winter,  but  in  the 
summer  it  was  necessary  for  the  young  student  to 
go  elsewhere.  One  of  these  summers  was  passed 
by  young  Howe  with  a  private  teacher  at  Palmer, 
another  at  the  New  Salem  Academy,  and  two  or 
three  others  at  Deerfield,  which  has  long  enjoyed 
a  well-endowed  institution  of  learning.  The  beau 
tiful  scenery  and  simple  village  life  of  Deerfield 
made  a  deep  impression  upon  him.  It  is  indeed 
a  sweet  spot,  its  hospitable  trees  welcoming  to  their 
cool  shade  the  weary  traveller,  while  his  eyes  are 
refreshed  by  the  deep,  rich,  outspreading  meadow, 
here  green  with  herbage  and  there  golden  with 
grain,  a  great  park  for  the  whole  village,  the 
pleasant  stream  which  takes  its  name  from  the 
town  glistening  here  and  there  through  the  foliage. 
It  is  a  rare  place  indeed  for  the  student,  whether 
of  nature  or  of  books. 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  11 

The  last  summer  at  Deerfield  was  filled  up  with 
very  laborious  study,  which  enabled  young  Howe 
to  enter  Williams  College  at  an  advanced  stand 
ing.  He  joined  the  Sophomore  class  of  that  in 
stitution  when  sixteen  years  of  age,  carrying  with 
him  correct  moral  principles,  a  vigorous,  healthy 
mind,  and  an  ardent  love  of  learning.  The  fond 
ness  for  exact  thought,  by  which  in  after  life  he 
was  so  much  distinguished,  had  already  appear 
ed  in  his  love  of  the  mathematics.  What  is  only 
a  stumbling-block  to  so  many,  was  for  him  a 
stepping-stone  to  truth.  Of  his  college  life  we 
have  only  scanty  memorials ;  and  although  there 
is  abundant  evidence  of  his  character  and  scholar 
ship,  it  would  seem  that  much  of  the  benefit  which 
ought  to  have  accrued  to  him  from  his  position  as 
a  scholar  was  neutralized  by  mismanagement,  to 
use  no  harsher  word,  on  the  part  of  the  college 
government. 

It  is  pleasant  to  find  the  following  record  of  the 
impression  made  by  Mr.  Howe  at  this  time  upon 
one  whose  fine  and  well-directed  gifts  have  se 
cured  for  her  a  wide  reputation  at  home  and 
abroad.  She  writes,  —  "  My  acquaintance  with  and 
friendship  for  Mr.  Howe  began  in  my  childhood. 
I  do  not  think  that  I  was  more  than  twelve  or 
thirteen  when  he  first  came  home  with  my  broth- 


12  MEMOIR    OF 

ers,  and  from  that  period  I  have  had  a  uniform 
impression  of  his  character,  which  seemed  to  me 
through  life  to  retain  the  freshness  of  its  original 
stamp.  He  was  as  a  young  man  distinguished  for 
truth,  integrity,  unafFectedness,  and  simplicity.  I 
remember  that  my  desire  for  improvement  was 
greatly  stimulated  by  my  intercourse  with  him, 
and  once,  when  he  drove  from  our  door,  going  to 
the  book-case  and  taking  down  the  first  volume  of 
a  heavy  history,  with  the  earnest  purpose  to  de 
serve  better  his  esteem." 

The  very  next  week  after  leaving  college,  Mr. 
Howe,  with  characteristic  promptness,  entered  the 
law  office  of  Jabez  Upham,  Esq.,  of  Brookfield. 
Leaving  this  situation  at  the  expiration  of  a  year, 
he  went,  in  October,  1805,  to  Litchfield,  and  con 
nected  himself  with  the  law  school  at  that  place, 
which  then  so  justly  attracted  attention  under  the 
auspices  of  Chief-Justice  Reeves  and  Judge 
Gould.  It  was  a  very  happy  step.  The  law 
school  was  filled  with  hard-working  students,  who 
maintained  a  high  standard  of  scholarship,  and 
earnestly  seconded  in  every  way  the  efforts  of 
accomplished  and  devoted  instructors.  "  That 
school,"  said  Chief-Justice  Parker,  "  I  consider  as 
the  foundation  of  the  improved  state  of  education 
in  the  science  of  the  law."  Mr.  Howe,  in  his  let- 


HON.    SAMUEL   HOWE.  13 

ters  to  his  father  from  Litchfield,  writes  most  en 
thusiastically  of  his  advantages,  and  of  his  plans 
for  turning  them  all  to  the  best  account,  acknowl 
edging,  at  the  same  time,  with  dutiful  gratitude, 
his  indebtedness  to  his  kind  parent  for  every  op 
portunity.  He  writes  on  the  21st  of  June,  1806, 
as  follows :  — 

"  I  was  not  so  much  fatigued  with  the  journey 
as  I  expected.  The  horse  carried  me  extremely 
well,  and  will,  I  believe,  answer  my  purpose  much 
better  than  the  one  I  left ;  yet  I  cannot  but  regret 
the  inconveniences  you  will  suffer  in  consequence 
of  it.  Indeed,  Sir,  when  I  reflect  upon  what  you 
have  done,  and  the  sacrifices  you  are  every  day 
making  to  increase  the  means  of  my  enjoyment, 
to  make  me  respectable  and  happy,  my  heart 
swells  with  gratitude,  and  I  find  myself  unable  to 
express  to  you  what  I  feel  upon  the  subject.  I 
hope  by  a  long  course  of  duty  to  convince  you 
that  I  am  not  guilty  of  the  sin  of  ingratitude.  I 
ought  to  be  peculiarly  grateful  to  you,  for  I  de 
volved  upon  you  in  my  infancy,  and  have  required 
your  continued  attentions  ever  since.  Yesterday 
completed  my  twenty-first  year.  On  such  an  oc 
casion  as  this  what  ought  to  be  my  reflections ! 
When  I  look  back,  I  see  that,  by  parental  affection 
and  advice,  I  have  been  permitted  to  escape  the 
2 


14  MEMOIR    OF 

thousand  dangers  of  youth.  By  parental  assist 
ance,  I  have  been  enabled  to  enjoy  many  of  the 
pleasures  of  life,  and  have  had  an  opportunity  to 
lay  a  foundation  for  future  usefulness.  But 
above  all,  I  have  been  enabled,  by  your  precepts 
and  your  example,  to  imbibe  correct  notions  of 
religion  and  of  morality ;  you  have  taught  me  the 
vanity  of  the  pursuits  of  this  world,  in  competition 
with  an  interest  in  our  Lord  and  Saviour." 

Intending  to  practise  in  Massachusetts,  Mr. 
Howe  could  remain  only  a  year  in  Connecticut ; 
and  at  the  expiration  of  this  time,  in  the  autumn 
of  1806,  he  removed  to  Stockbridge,  and  gained 
admission  into  the  office,  the  library,  and  the  fam 
ily  of  Judge  Sedgwick,  who  kindly  presented  him 
with  his  tuition.  The  last  year  of  preparation  for 
his  profession  was  passed  under  these  highly  pro 
pitious  circumstances,  and  many  rich  opportuni 
ties  were  afforded  him  for  storing  his  mind  with 
much  that  lay  beyond  the  immediate  circle  of  his 
pursuits.  It  was  a  season  of  pure  and  profitable 
pleasure. 

In  August  of  the  following  year,  Mr.  Howe 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  had  passed  through 
the  time  of  preparation  with  singular  fidelity  and 
success.  The  social  habits  of  the  day  exposed 
young  persons  to  great  moral  dangers,  and  in  the 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  15 

earlier  part  of  his  course  he  was  brought  into  con 
tact  with  some  very  bad  examples ;  but  he  came 
out  of  the  fiery  trial  unscathed,  his  education  well 
begun.  "  I  saw  him,"  said  Judge  Parker,  "  just  en 
tering  upon  his  professional  career,  ardent  in  the 
pursuit  of  knowledge,  devotedly  attached  to  the 
study  of  the  law,  and  determined  to  make  it  the 
business  of  his  life,  as  much  for  his  love  of  it,  as  a 
science,  as  for  the  hope  of  its  pecuniary  rewards. 
I  was  then  struck  with  the  simplicity  and  strength 
of  his  character,  his  frankness,  zeal,  and  ardor, 
his  kind  and  benevolent  feelings,  the  manly' inde 
pendence  of  his  mind  ;  and  I  marked  him  as  one 
of  the  promising  young  men  of  the  profession." 

Mr.  Howe  commenced  business  at  Stockbridge. 
He  had  been  engaged  for  a  little  more  than  a  year 
to  Miss  Susan  Tracy,  daughter  of  General  Tracy, 
Senator  from  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  the 
death  of  this  gentleman  at  Washington  having 
produced  an  unfavorable  change  in  the  circum 
stances  of  his  family,  an  immediate  marriage  was 
decided  upon. 

In  February  of  the  year  1808,  a  removal  from 
Stockbridge  to  Worthington  seemed  desirable,  and 
was  carried  out.  Worthington  is  one  of  the  beau 
tiful  hill  towns  of  Hampshire  county,  so  situated 
as  to  enable  the  resident  lawyer  to  practise  i 


16  MEMOIR   OF 

several  counties.  It  is  still  a  long  way  off  from  any 
of  our  cities,  and  the  way  was  longer  far  at  that 
time,  when  the  stage-coach  and  the  saddle  were 
the  dependence  of  the  traveller.  It  was  a  quiet 
place  for  a  man  of  great  promise  to  seek ;  but 
books  could  be  conveyed  there,  and  leisure  could 
be  secured  for  reading  them,  and  a  home  could 
be  established  which  would  be  all  the  more 
prized  for  occasional  difficulties  of  access.  In 
deed,  the  situation  afforded  a  fine  opportunity  for 
that  continued  and  systematic  intellectual  labor 
which  Mr.  Howe  so  much  coveted  and  prized. 
The  years  of  his  residence  at  Worthington  were 
years  of  hard  mental  toil.  No  moment  was  lost. 
Nobody  could  say  that  he  was  becoming  rusty. 
His  position  did  not  derfrand  much  effort,  but  his 
mind  could  not  rest.  The  inward  impulse  made 
outward  stimulus  unnecessary.  He  read,  he  con 
versed,  he  reflected,  and  the  whole  family  could 
not  choose  but  catch  the  spirit,  and  read,  con 
versed,  and  reflected  with  him.  The  time  that 
was  not  given  to  his  profession  was  quickly  ab 
sorbed  by  general  studies  and  by  social  duties, 
which  were  always  cheerfully  and  thoroughly 
performed.  Students  of  law  repaired  to  Worth 
ington  for  instruction,  and  lived  in  Mr.  Howe's 
family.  The  writer  once  asked  one  of  these 


HON.    SAB1UEL    HOWE.  17 

students  what  could  have  been  the  occupation  of 
their  teacher  in  so  retired  a  spot.  "  Occupation  !" 
said  he ;  "  he  studied  continually  ;  he  was  never 
weary  or  dull,  —  always  fresh,  keen,  ready  for 
new  exertion,  —  a  most  devoted  student."  Unlike 
many  students,  however,  Mr.  Howe  did  not  deny 
himself  to  his  family,  or  grudgingly  give  them  a 
little  of  his  time.  To  his  household  and  to  his 
friends  he  devoted  through  life  a  large  portion  of 
his  valuable  hours  as  their  due,  maintaining  with 
the  absent  a  frequent  and  regular  correspond 
ence,  and  sharing  with  the  family  circle,  so  far 
as  practicable,  his  intellectual  enjoyments.  He 
writes,  —  "  We  shall  not  be  inclined  to  complain  of 
solitude  while  we  can  enjoy  together  the  society 
of  Shakspeare  and  Milton  and  Johnson  and  Burke." 
We  might  write  much,  from  the  best  authority,  of 
the  beautiful  spirit  that  reigned  in  the  household  ; 
but  though  the  temptation  is  great,  we  must  re 
strain  our  pen. 

A  little  outward  variety  was  secured  by  occa 
sional  journeys,  one  of  which  extended  into  Can 
ada.  A  journey  at  that  day  was  an  event.  It 
afforded  abundant  leisure  for  the  observation  of 
nature  and  of  life,  with  many  an  excellent  oppor 
tunity  for  conversation,  whilst  the  difficulty  of 
reaching  friends  made  long  visits  and  familiar  in- 
2* 


18  MEMOIR    OF 

tercourse  seem  all  the  more  suitable.  These  long 
journeys  were  often  fatiguing  enough,  and  weary 
indeed  must  have  been  the  days  and  weeks  which 
the  traveller  to  some  scene  of  affliction  must  spend 
upon  the  heavy  road.  And  yet  there  is  a  vast 
deal  which  attracts  one  in  the  way  of  life  now  be 
come  obsolete  through  the  rapid  changes  of  these 
last  few  years.  As  is  always  the  case,  we  know 
little  about  it  save  what  is  pleasant.  Railroad 
stations  are  too  new  to  have  gathered  about  them 
the  delightful  associations  which  belong  to  the 
village  inn,  the  goal  of  a  long  day's  journey.  The 
steam-ship  and  the  locomotive  are  highly  poetical, 
and  their  mad  speed  harmonizes  well  with  the 
hurry  of  our  times ;  but  all  our  pleasant  images 
cluster  about  the  good  bark  with  snowy  sails, 
and  the  fleet  horse,  whose  shoes,  like  those  of  the 
animal  ridden  by  the  fugitive  Charles  Stuart,  had 
been  set,  as  the  stanch  Puritan  smith  discovered, 
in  four  several  counties  ! 

Mr.  Howe  entered  at  once  into  a  comfortable 
livelihood,  and  saw  no  reason  to  regret  his  early 
marriage.  At  the  close  of  His  first  half-year,  he 
recorded  the  following  prayer:  —  "I  pray  that 
the  improvement  of  my  prospects  may  have  no 
other  effect  upon  me  than  to  increase  my  gratitude 
and  dependence  upon  the  Giver  of  every  good 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  19 

gift.  May  I  use  properly  every  thing  which  is 
given  me  to  dispose  of  here  below  !  "  But  it  was 
not  the  will  of  the  Heavenly  Father  that  the  be 
loved  wife  whose  home  he  labored  to  make  happy 
should  continue  with  him  in  outward  presence. 
A  dark  cloud  descended  upon  his  dwelling ;  on 
the  25th  of  June,  1811,  Mrs.  Howe  died  very  sud 
denly,  leaving  an  infant  of  a  single  day,  their 
second  child.  The  blow  was  heavy  indeed,  and 
all  unlooked  for.  In  that  deep  retirement,  obliged 
to  separate  himself  immediately  from  his  children, 
he  met  the  distressing  bereavement,  —  met  it  in  a 
Christian  spirit,  though  the  letters  of  the  sufferer 
are  painful  to  read,  notwithstanding  the  manly  for 
titude  and  quiet  resignation  which  pervade  them. 
He  felt  that,  for  his  children's  sake,  he  must  work 
on  in  sorrow  and  bide  God's  time.  In  the  autumn 
of  1813  he  was  again  married,  and  found  in  the 
lady  who  now  lives  to  cherish  his  memory  and 
mourn  his  loss  a  most  faithful  friend  and  devoted 
mother  of  his  children. 

At  this  time  the  more  active  minds  in  the  east 
ern  part  of  our  Commonwealth  were  earnestly  oc 
cupied  in  religious  investigations,  and  many  Chris 
tians,  who  were  unwilling  that  this  branch  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  should  be  for  ever  enslaved  to  the 
theology  of  Calvin,  found  themselves  obliged  to 


20  MEMOIR    OF 

separate  from  their  brethren  in  order  to  enjoy 
common  religious  privileges.  The  hour  for  the 
Longer  and  Shorter  Catechisms  had  come.  Their 
dogmas,  though  faithfully  taught  along  with  the 
Bible  in  the  public  schools,  had  been  outgrown, 
and  as  soon  as  zealous  adherents  to  these  opinions 
insisted  upon  making  them  the  tests  of  Christian 
discipleship,  the  churches  were  violently  rent 
asunder,  and  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  instead  of 
occupying  together,  as  they  always  ought  to  have 
done,  the  great  Christian  platform,  became  "  Or 
thodox"  and  "Liberal." 

This  was  not,  as  some  pretend,  a  contest  be 
tween  belief  and  unbelief,  nor  did  it  grow  out  of  a 
sect-spirit ;  it  was  not  a  struggle  to  establish  a 
set  of  opinions  called  Unitarianism  above  another 
set  of  opinions  called  Calvinism ;  it  was  a  move 
ment  in  favor  of  a  Bible  Christianity,  whatever 
that  might  prove  to  be.  We  believe  that  impar 
tial  history  will  show  that  Freeman  and  Channing 
and  Willard  and  Ware  and  Buckminster  and 
Thacher  were  as  far  removed  from  sectarianism 
as  ever  mortal  man  were,  —  that  they  were  not 
in  any  strict  sense  Arians  or  Socinians,  least  of 
all  Belshamites  or  Priestleyites,  —  that  they  held 
the  substance  of  great  Christian  truths  as  they 
were  held  in  early  days,  before  even  what  is  called 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  21 

the  Creed  of  the  Apostles  was  framed,  before 
Arius  and  Athanasius  lived  and  taught.  Honest- 
minded  men  could  not  go  along  with  the  Cate 
chism.  The  writer  of  these  pages  recalls,  in  this 
connection,  a  conversation  upon  this  movement, 
held  with  a  plain,  clear-minded,  warm-hearted 
farmer  residing  in  a  part  of  our  Commonwealth 
where  external  liberalizing  influences  are  very 
sparingly  enjoyed.  "  My  father,"  said  he,  "  with 
out  communicating  with  any  one  upon  the  subject, 
took  the  Catechisms  and  the  Bible  and  studied 
them  in  connection.  He  followed  the  references 
through  and  through.  He  sincerely  wished  to 
know  whether  the  ministers  who  urged  these  for 
mulas  upon  him  taught  God's  truth.  He  was  sur 
rounded  by  zealous  Calvinists,  all  his  prejudices 
were  in  favor  of  Calvinism,  but  he  kept  to  his  task 
with  manly  honesty,  and  satisfied  himself  at 
length  that  Christianity  and  Calvinism  are  fun 
damentally  distinct."  It  is  said  that  men,  women, 
and  children  in  our  day  are  actually  reading  these 
Catechisms  again :  let  them  be  read  as  that 
farmer  read  them,  —  with  intellectual  honesty  and 
with  a  high  and  spiritual  purpose.  They  may  be 
galvanized  into  spasms  ;  they  will  hardly  be  raised 
again  to  life. 

Mr.  Howe,  though  never  a  bigot,  was  found 


22  MEMOIR    OF 

during  the  earlier  part  of  his  life  on  what  was 
called  the  Orthodox  side,  and  was  sufficiently  in 
terested  in  the  subject  to  express  a  good  deal  of 
concern  when  the  lady  with  whom  he  was  con 
nected  by  his  second  marriage  made  known  her  , 
Liberal  tendencies.  Mrs.  Howe,  being  satisfied 
that  the  root  of  the  matter  was  in  him,  quietly  re 
frained  from  agitating  the  subject ;  and  in  good 
time,  about  two  years  after,  it  was  brought  to  his 
notice  again  by  his  intimate  friend  and  class 
mate,  Mr.  H.  D.  Sedgwick,  for  whom  he  always 
entertained  the  highest  regard.  He  obtained 
from  him  Yates's  Answer  to  Wardlaw,  which  was 
carefully  read  in  connection  with  the  New  Testa 
ment.  The  subject  was  faithfully  pursued  in  other 
directions,  and  another  mind  was  emancipated 
from  the  Calvinistic  theology. 

Mr.  Ho\ve  had  been  a  religious  man  before,  a 
man  of  high  spiritual  and  moral  purposes  ;  but 
now  the  whole  matter  of  the  Christian  life  came 
to  him  with  new  meaning  and  beauty,  he  read  the 
Scriptures  with  fresh  interest,  his  spirit  rose  as  if 
a  burden  had  been  lifted  from  it,  and,  by  joining 
the  church  at  Deerfield  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Willard,  he  publicly  consecrated 
himself  to  the  Gospel.  This  step  was  taken  in 
the  course  of  the  year  following  that  which  the 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  23 

conference  with  Mr.  Sedgwick  made  so  eventful 
in  his  religious  life.  There  was  neither  foolish 
haste  nor  unwise  delay.  The  avowal  of  Liberal 
views  must  have  exposed  him  to  a  great  deal  of 
obloquy ;  but  whilst  it  is  shameful  to  inflict  mar 
tyrdom,  it  is  not  manly  or  dignified  for  those  who 
suffer  it  to  boast  of  their  endurance.  Mr.  Howe 
never  would  have  done  this  for  himself;  we  shall 
not  do  it  for  him. 

The  following  passages,  selected  from  many 
similar,  and  contained  in  letters  written  before  his 
change  of  religious  sentiment,  indicate  the  sober 
and  meditative  cast  of  his  thoughts. 

"  I  think  the  balance  of  evidence  is  against  the 
idea,  that  our  being  is  suspended  from  death  until 
the  general  resurrection.  Death  would  certainly 
lose  half  its  terrors,  if  we  believed  that  the  mo 
ment  we  were  called  to  part  with  all  we  held  dear 
here  below  would  restore  us  to  all  we  had  lost,  in 
another  and  brighter  world." 

"  Instead  of  becoming  feeble  and  insignificant 
by  trusting  in  God,  we  grow  strong  in  his  strength 
and  wise  in  his  wisdom." 

"  The  means  of  happiness  are  often  mistaken 
for  happiness  itself.  Those  who  indulge  them 
selves  in  style  and  equipage  take  more  pains  to 
make  the  world  believe  that  they  are  happy,  than 


24  MEMOIR    OF 

they  do  really  to  make  themselves  so.  When  we 
abandon  the  former  object,  and  direct  all  our  at 
tention  to  the  latter,  success  is  the  never-failing 
consequence." 

After  a  residence  of  thirteen  years  at  Worth- 
ington,  Mr.  Howe  removed  with  his  family  to 
Northampton.  He  left  Worthington  with  pain. 
The  place  was  endeared  to  him  by  many  pleasant 
and  by  many  sadly  pleasant  associations,  but  the 
interests  of  his  young  family  imperatively  demand 
ed  a  change,  and  he  had  chosen  for  his  new  home 
one  of  the  loveliest  spots  in  all  New  England. 

These  thirteen  years  at  Worthington  offer  many 
an  example  to  the  young  man  just  entering  upon 
the  duties  of  active  life ;  this  especially,  that  he 
ought  not  to  strive  so  much  to  gain  a  commanding 
position  as  to  do  a  commanding  work.  Only  let 
one  have  something  to  say,  and  he  will  hardly 
lack  hearers  ;  they  will  come  in  due  time.  Only 
let  one  have  weight,  and  the  true  balance  will  be 
sure  to  indicate  it.  In  order  to  live  and  labor, 
one  need  not  live  and  labor  in  a  crowd.  Only  be 
sure  to  work,  and  you  will  work  your  way  out  in 
good  time,  if  you  are  not  well  enough  where  you 
are.  During  Mr.  Howe's  residence  at  Worthing 
ton,  he  amassed  the  larger  share  of  that  legal 
learning  which  gave  him  such  prominence  in  his 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  25 

profession,  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  he  enlarged 
and  enriched  his  mind  by  the  pursuit  of  general 
literature,  especially  interesting  himself  in  the  ac 
cumulation  of  significant  facts,  facts  of  human 
life,  under  its  numberless  aspects  and  as  exhibited 
in  various  ages,  regions,  and  climes.  In  this  he 
manifested  an  appetite  which  has  been  a  prevail 
ing  characteristic  of  all  healthy-minded  men. 

In  November,  1820,  Mr.  Howe  established  him 
self  in  Northampton,  having  formed  a  business 
connection  with  Hon.  Elijah  H.  Mills,  an  eminent 
lawyer  and  Senator  in  Congress.  In  June  of  the 
following  year  he  was  appointed,  under  the  new 
organization  of  the  courts  of  the  Commonwealth, 
a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  —  a  trying 
situation,  because  the  order  of  things  was  new,  and 
the  friends  of  the  old  judges  were  dissatisfied. 
But  the  respect  and  kind  regard  of  the  disaffected 
were  soon  gained.  In  the  autumn  of  1823,  a 
flourishing  law  school  was  established  in  North 
ampton,  under  the  auspices  of  Judge  Howe  and 
Mr.  Mills,  and  not  long  after  the  Round  Hill  school 
for  boys,  quite  famous  in  its  day,  went  into  op 
eration. 

We  do  not  know  where  a  village  could  have 
been  found  to  compare  with  Northampton  in  nat 
ural  beauty  and  in  all  the  fascinations  of  a  cultivat- 
3 


26  MEMOIR    OF 

ed  community.  Its  society,  long  distinguished  for 
refinement  and  an  elegant  hospitality,  was  at  this 
time  singularly  attractive.  The  corps  of  instruct 
ors  connected  with  the  Round  Hill  school  em 
braced  some  of  the  finest  minds  in  our  country, 
—  men  who  have  since  gained  a  wide  and  high 
reputation  in  science  and  letters ;  and  with  these 
were  often  joined  foreigners  of  distinguished 
scholarship  and  polished  manners.  The  institu 
tion  was  far  better  furnished  than  many  a  univer 
sity,  and  there  was  a  magnificence  in  all  the  ap 
pliances  and  equipage  which  was  as  fascinating  to 
the  beholder  as  it  was  ruinous  to  those  most  in 
terested  in  the  establishment.  The  law  school 
attracted  to  the  village  many  young  men  of  abil 
ity,  spirit,  and  high  culture,  and  in  a  short  time 
could  boast,  besides  such  gifted  instructors  as  Mr. 
Mills  and  Judge  Howe,  the  accomplished  John 
Hooker  Ashmun,  whose  premature  death  robbed 
the  world  of  a  most  wise,  pure,  and  gentle  man, 
leaving,  however,  what  is  no  trifling  legacy,  a 
very  fragrant  memory  and  a  very  quickening  ex 
ample.  Of  his  intercourse  with  his  pupils,  Judge 
Howe  was  accustomed  to  say  that  he  was  the 
gainer  by  it  as  much  as  they  ;  it  afforded  most 
excellent  opportunities  for  investigation,  both  as 
to  precedents  and  principles. 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  27 

Prominent  amongst  those  who  gave  to  Judge 
Howe  a  hearty  welcome  was  one  whose  name 
will  long  be  remembered  with  the  utmost  rever 
ence  and  the  warmest  love  by  all  who  were  priv 
ileged  to  know  him.  We  refer  to  Judge  Lyman. 
We  shall  give  him  no  more  specific  designation 
than  this,  for  he  needs  none.  To  many,  many  hearts 
these  are  charmed  words.  They  call  up  the  image 
of  one,  the  manly  beauty  of  whose  person  was  but 
the  fit  expression  of  a  most  noble  soul ;  they  re 
call  a  man  singularly  gifted  and  singularly  faithful, 
—  a  thinker,  clear-sighted,  yet  reverent,  —  a  lover 
of  religious  liberty,  yet  only  for  the  pure  Gospel's 
sake,  —  a  devoted  friend,  —  a  self-sacrificing  phi 
lanthropist, —  an  ardent  patriot,  —  a  man  diligent 
in  business,  yet  ready  to  meet  the  largest  demands 
of  every  hospitable  office,  —  a  cheerful  giver, — 
one  who  made  virtue  venerable  and  lovely  by  the 
uniform  dignity,  grace,  and  courtesy  of  his  man 
ners  and  by  the  sweetness  of  his  speech,  —  a  man 
whose  moral  and  social  qualities  so  occupied  'at 
tention,  that  we  could  hardly  do  justice  to  a  very 
wise,  discriminating,  and  cultivated  intellect.  The 
beautiful  light  of  his  life  has  gone  out  from  this 
world ;  it  is  our  consolation  to  believe  that  it 
shines  brightly  in  the  heavenly  world.  Remotely 
related  to  Judge  Lyman,  closely  connected  with 


28  MEMOIR    OF 

him  by  marriage,  and  more  closely  joined  to  him 
in  spirit,  Judge  Howe  found  a  most  devoted  friend, 
even  to  the  closing  hour. 

We  come  now  to  one  of  the  most  important 
events  in  the  life  of  Judge  Howe  ;  we  refer  to  the 
prominent  part  which  he  felt  called  upon  to  take  in 
the  separation  of  the  Liberal  Christians  of  North 
ampton  from  their  Orthodox  brethren.  We  shall 
pause  a  little  upon  the  matter,  not  for  the  sake 
of  stirring  the  embers  of  an  old  controversy,  but 
in  order  to  bring  again  into  light  the  high  ground 
taken  by  Judge  Howe  in  the  movement,  and 
to  pay  our  humble  tribute  to  what  must  be  regard 
ed  by  every  one  as  a  very  high-toned  liberality. 
Moreover,  the  condition  of  things  in  Northampton 
at  that  time  is  not  unlike  the  condition  of  things  in 
very  many  places  at  the  present  time.  We  con 
fess  to  a  great  anxiety  to  free  our  denomination, 
so  far  as  can  honestly  be  done,  from  the  charge  of 
sectarianism,  and  here  was  an  enterprise  deliber 
ately  commenced,  not  in  sectarian  heat,  not  in 
the  pride  of  opinion,  not  with  any  exaggeration 
of  mere  individual  peculiarities  of  thought  and 
feeling,  but  with  a  sober  and  single  regard  for 
the  principles  of  Protestantism  and  of  Christian 
liberty,  and  in  a  peaceable  spirit  which  was  ready 
to  sacrifice  every  thing  but  the  truth. 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  29 

The  Liberal  Christians  of  Northampton  formed 
a  very  considerable  and  highly  respectable  portion 
of  the  community,  and  church-fellowship  had  been 
expressly  extended  to  them.  They  had  no  desire 
to  separate  themselves  from  those  who  were  will 
ing  to  acknowledge  them  as  brethren,  but  offered 
to  sustain  what  was  called  an  Orthodox  ministry, 
upon  the  condition  that  Liberal  clergymen  should 
be  occasionally  invited  to  occupy  the  pulpit,  by 
invitation  or  by  exchange.  On  the  occasion  of  the 
settlement  of  a  colleague  pastor  in  1824,  this  con 
dition  was  insisted  upon.  The  candidate  was 
questioned  as  to  the  matter,  and  was  understood 
by  the  Liberal  party  to  be  entirely  inclined  to  the 
course  which  they  proposed,  provided  only  the 
consent  of  the  town  could  be  obtained.  In  the 
meeting  of  the  town,  the  subject  was  distinctly 
brought  up,  and,  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  Liberal 
portion  of  the  inhabitants,  the  following  preamble 
and  vote  were  unanimously  adopted  :  — 

"  Whereas,  it  is  well  known  that  there  are  many 
members  of  this  society  whose  religious  sentiments 
differ  from  those  of  their  present  pastor,  but  who 
are  desirous  to  preserve  the  spirit  of  unity  in  the 
bond  of  peace,  and  are  willing  to  concur  in  the 
settlement  of  a  colleague  whose  religious  senti 
ments  are  different  from  their  own, 


30  MEMOIR    OF 

"  Therefore,  voted  unanimously,  That  this  so 
ciety  are  willing  that  the  colleague  who  may  be 
settled  with  us,  in  pursuance  of  the  vote  passed  in 
November  last,  should  exchange  with  or  invite  to 
preach  in  the  desk  any  pious  clergyman  of  any 
denomination  of  Christians." 

Of  this  vote  the  colleague,  now  elect,  was  dis 
tinctly  apprised.  To  us  it  seems  a  remarkable 
step  for  the  descendants  of  a  congregation  to 
which  Jonathan  Edwards  ministered.  It  helps  to 
show,  that,  when  an  issue  is  distinctly  joined  be 
tween  conservatives  and  the  party  of  progress,  the 
chance  is  in  favor  of  the  latter  if  its  members  are 
only  anywhere  within  reach.  The  Liberal  Chris 
tians  had  already,  by  securing  church-fellowship, 
emancipated  the  people  from  the  creed,  and  they 
had  now,  as  they  supposed,  emancipated  the  min 
ister.  But  they  had  only  seen  the  fair  morning  ;  a 
cloudy  day  was  before  them.  The  new  clergy 
man,  on  whose  sympathy,  as  appears  very  clearly 
from  the  "  Statement  of  Facts  "  put  forth  by  Judge 
Howe,  they  had  every  reason  to  count,  so  declined 
an  exchange  with  a  neighbouring  clergyman  of 
Liberal  views,  the  late  Dr.  Peabody  of  Spring 
field,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  he  believed  it  to  be 
his  duty  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  the  strict 
party. 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  31 

It  was  a  sad  disappointment.  We  will  not,  at  this 
distance  of  time,  judge  him  who  was  at  the  least 
the  occasion  of  it.  We  cannot  say  how  the  matter 
may  have  appeared  to  his  mind.  He  was  then 
a  stranger  in  Massachusetts,  unacquainted  with 
the  opinions  and  feelings  which  were  agitating  so 
many  minds,  unaware  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
concession  to  Liberalism  involved  in,  the  vote 
above  quoted,  and  continually  subjected  to  conserv 
ative  influences.  We  are  inclined  to  believe  that 
he  was  sincere  in  his  original  promises,  which 
were  certainly  most  unqualified.  At  all  events, 
the  Liberal  Christians  failed  to  attain  their  end, 
and  appealed  for  redress  to  the  town.  Most  un 
happily,  Judge  Howe  was  prevented  by  illness 
from  advocating  the  cause  of  religious  freedom, 
and  the  strict  party  carried  the  day,  the  elo 
quence  of  one  of  the  ablest  and  sweetest  speak 
ers*  whom  this  Commonwealth  has  ever  boasted 
contributing  greatly  to  the  result.  And  so,  of  ne 
cessity  almost,  a  new  society  was  formed,  and  the 
bond  of  peace  was  broken,  not,  we  trust,  for  ever. 

We  are  inclined  to  believe  that  the  wisest 
course  for  the  Unitarians  of  Northampton  would 

*  Hon.  Isaac  C.  Bates,  late  United  States  Senator  from 
Massachusetts. 


32  MEMOIR    OF 

have  been  to  content  themselves  with  church- 
fellowship.  The  course  which  they  proposed  for 
the  pulpit  would  have  made  it  virtually  a  Liberal 
pulpit,  and,  although  things  must  in  the  end  come 
to  this  or  recede  to  Catholicity,  the  movement  was 
premature.  But  one  can  very  easily  give  advice  af 
ter  the  event,  and  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  town 
was  fitted, to  encourage  enthusiastic  expectations 
at  that  time.  And  we  must  express  a  deep  sym 
pathy  with  the  large-minded  and  large-hearted 
Christians,  who,  after  such  encouragement,  failed 
to  obtain  what  they  had  every  right  and  reason 
to  hope.  By  most  honorable  means  they  had 
sought  to  realize  a  high  purpose.  They  strove 
to  honor  truth,  whilst  they  avoided  schism.  They 
sought  to  be  at  peace  with  their  Orthodox  breth 
ren,  whilst  they  bore  testimony  for  a  faith  much 
spoken  against.  The  separation,  when  it  came  at 
last,  was  a  sad  alternative,  as  every  religious  sep 
aration  should  be. 

We  venture  to  insert  a  few  of  the  closing  para 
graphs  of  the  "  Statement  of  Facts  "  put  forth  by 
Judge  Howe,  because  they  so  well  express  the 
strong  reasons  for  separation  which  then  existed 
and  still  exist. 

"  The  name  of  CHRISTIAN  is  dear  to  us,  in 
common  with  all  the  followers  of  our  blessed  Lord. 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  33 

That  we  should  be  patient  under  any  attempt  to 
rob  us  of  it,  we  think  could  hardly  be  expected. 
If  this  reproach  were  bestowed  on  us  individually, 
it  might  be  borne  with  patience ;  but  when  it  is 
bestowed  upon  our  friends  and  the  faith  we  pro 
fess,  it  would  be  treachery  to  our  principles  to 
submit  to  it,  and  especially  to  support  and  uphold 
those  by  whom  it  is  bestowed. 

"  The  vote  of  the  church  directing  the  pastor  to 
invite  to  the  communion-table  members  of  other 
churches,  without  distinction,  manifested  a  noble, 
catholic  spirit,  and  the  vote  of  the  town  upon  the 
subject  of  invitations  and  exchanges,  so  contrary 
to  the  predictions  (not  the  wishes)  of  some  of  the 
Orthodox,  evinced  a  regard  to  the  rights  and  feel 
ings  of  others  which  will  ever  reflect  the  highest 
honor  upon  them.  How  they  understood  the 
proposition  submitted  to  them,  and  what  they  in 
tended  by  the  vote  they  adopted,  we  cannot  doubt 
for  a  moment.  The  question  is  not  what  the 
town  wish,  or  what  the  Liberal  party  desire.  It 
is  whether  the  pulpit  shall  be  under  the  control 
of  the  society,  or  whether,  against  their  wishes, 
it  shall  be  closed  at  the  pleasure  of  the  strict 
party 

"  We  have  felt  it  due  to  ourselves  that  our  mo 
tives  and  our  conduct  should  be  fully  explained. 


34  MEMOIR    OF 

The  total  failure  of  our  attempt  to  keep  the  spirit 
of  unity  in  the  bond  of  peace  is  a  bitter  disap 
pointment  ;  but  it  becomes  neither  Christians  nor 
men  to  cry  '  Peace  !  peace !  when  there  is  no 
peace,'  and  we  hope  we  have  expressed  our  dis 
appointment  in  a  spirit  of  Christian  candor,  and 
without  violating  '  the  new  commandment'  of  our 
blessed  Lord,  '  to  love  one  another.'  " 

It  was  a  matter  of  extreme  surprise  to  the  Or 
thodox  of  that  day,  why  devoted  and  sincere 
Christians  could  not  be  satisfied  with  what  their 
creeds  offered  to  them  as  Christianity.  The  dis 
satisfaction  of  men  so  sincerely  religious  should 
have  induced  them  to  examine  more  thoroughly 
the  Scriptural  grounds  for  their  exclusive  faith. 
Devoted  and  sincere  Christians  never  separate 
themselves  from  their  brethren,  so  long  as  they 
can  consistently  remain  united  with  them.  Many 
of  the  Orthodox  of  our  day  very  well  understand, 
and  are  free  to  confess,  that  the  Unitarian  move 
ment  was  necessary,  and  that,  if  not  needful  now, 
this  is  because  the  good  leaven  has  been  cast  into 
their  own  midst,  and  will  in  due  time  work  out 
all  the  good  that  Unitarianism  proposed.  "  No 
doubt,"  says  an  Orthodox  writer  in  the  Quar 
terly  Review,  "  it  is  the  inevitable  tendency  of 
these  extreme  Calvinistic  opinions  to  produce  a 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  35 

violent  revulsion.  Calvinism  is  everywhere  the 

legitimate  parent  of  Unitarianism In  truth, 

the  one  leading  thought  throughout  that  school  of 
powerful,  eloquent,  and  in  justice  we  cannot  but 
add  deeply  devotional  American  writers,  Chan- 
ning,  Dewey,  Norton,  is  the  abnegation  of  Cal 
vinism." 

To  every  bigot  for  the  old  theology  we  would 
put  this  single  question,  —  Why  could  not  this  old 
theology  retain  a  man  of  high  intelligence  and 
true  piety,  such  as  we  know  Judge  Howe  to  have 
been,  —  a  man  bred  in  its  schools,  taught  in  its 
catechisms,  surrounded  by  its  influences,  with  no 
single  moment  to  spare  from  engrossing  public 
services  for  sectarian  strifes  ?  Why  did  he  leave 
the  majority  for  the  minority,  after  patient  study 
and  mature  reflection  such  as  few  men  have  the 
capacity  to  bestow  upon  the  subject  ?  We  con 
fess  that  we  are  glad  to  read  so  worthy  a  name  in 
the  catalogue  of  Liberal  Christians.  It  is  not  the 
testimony  of  station  that  we  prize,  but  the  testi 
mony  of  a  wise  mind  and  of  a  warm  heart. 

But  it  was  not  the  will  of  God  that  Judge  Howe 
should  long  enjoy  the  religious  privileges  for 
which  he  had  so  faithfully  struggled.  His  consti 
tution  was  never  firm,  and  from  boyhood  his  in 
tellectual  ardor  had  carried  him  far  beyond  his 


36  MEMOIR    OF 

strength.  He  pushed  the  study  of  his  profession 
to  the  utmost  verge  of  his  ability.  Books  of  law 
often  found  their  way  to  his  office  in  the  country, 
from  beyond  the  sea,  sooner  than  they  were  ob 
tained  in  the  law-offices  of  city  practitioners. 
"  I  have  heard  him,"  said  Chief-Justice  Parker, 
"  discuss  questions  which  agitated  the  English 
courts,  before  they  were  generally  known  here  to 
have  been  mooted."  The  duties  of  instruction,  as 
he  performed  them,  were  very  exhausting,  yet  he 
did  not  decline  other  cares,  but  maintained  a  lively 
interest  in  the  cause  of  general  education  and  in 
every  good  work  ;  he  was  the  friend  of  the  sick 
and  the  bearer  of  religious  consolation  to  the  bed 
of  death.  His  aged  father  died  in  1826,  and  from 
the  commencement  of  the  year  1827  his  own 
health  sensibly  declined.  Through  life  he  had 
been  afflicted  with  most  exhausting  headaches,  — 
indeed  almost  every  effort  at  the  bar  was  followed 
by  suffering  of  this  sort,  —  and  this  year  began 
with  violent  attacks,  from  which  he  did  not  recover 
so  thoroughly  as  at  former  times.  During  this 
year  a  slight  difficulty  of  breathing  first  showed 
itself,  originating  in  a  cartilaginous  formation  in 
the  windpipe,  which  from  the  first  was  beyond 
the  reach  of  human  skill.  These  last  days  in  his 
earthly  home  were  not  without  their  premonitions 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  37 

to  Judge  Howe,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  per 
suaded  that  his  end  was  at  hand.  The  current  of 
many  of  his  thoughts  is  apparent  from  a  dream, 
which  made  a  very  deep  impression  upon  him. 

He  seemed  to  stand  upon  the  piazza  of  his 
dwelling,  his  new  home  but  lately  erected,  as  he 
had  hoped  for  a  pleasant  and  permanent  abiding- 
place,  where  the  hearth-fire  might  be  kept  burn 
ing,  and  into  which  his  children  might  be  gathered 
about  him,  for  many  happy  years.  This  beauti 
ful  residence,  a  monument  to  his  elegant  taste, 
quietly  reposes  at  the  foot  of  the  shapely  eminence 
which  crowns  the  village.  He  looked  out  upon 
the  glories  which  from  that  spot  meet  the  eye  at 
every  turn.  The  sun  shone  out  resplendent,  and 
poured  his  beams  aslant  upon  mountain  and  mead 
ow,  and  the  modest  village,  almost  buried  under 
its  gigantic  elms.  The  shadows  stretched  out  in 
huge  lengths  before  him,  for  the  day  was  far 
spent.  Presently,  as  often  happens  in  that  valley, 
there  rose  a  heavy  mist  and  obscured  the  whole 
landscape,  and  sent  a  chill  to  his  heart.  But  the 
darkness  and  the  cold  were  only  for  a  moment. 
Soon  the  mist  disappeared,  and  the  sun  sank  to 
rest  in  that  wondrous  glory  which,  like  the  bow  in 
the  clouds,  the  kind  Father  seems  to  have  ap 
pointed  to  cheer  and  reassure  our  hearts  in  this 
4 


38  MEMOIR    OF 

world,  where  so  many  must  be  afflicted  and  where 
all  must  die.  He  awoke,  and  behold  !  it  was  a 
dream ;  but  his  inmost,  prophetic  soul  said  to 
him,  So  shall  it  be  with  thee  !  —  and  so  it  was.  To 
this  dream  he  alluded  upon  his  death-bed. 

In  the  month  of  December,  Judge  Howe  left 
his  home,  in  company  with  his  wife  and  their  in 
fant  child,  to  preside  over  a  court  in  Worcester. 
This  proved  to  be  his  last  labor.  An  unusual 
pressure  of  business  detained  the  court  until 
Thursday  of  the  third  week.  During  the  follow 
ing  night,  Judge  Howe  was  completely  prostrated 
by  a  profuse  hemorrhage,  but  rallied  sufficiently 
to  travel  a  part  of  the  distance  to  Boston  on 
Wednesday  of  the  succeeding  week,  and,  after  his 
arrival  in  Boston,  remained  tolerably  comfortable 
during  the  remainder  of  that  week.  On  Monday 
he  was  much  more  ill,  and  continued  in  a  condi 
tion  of  great  suffering  for  twelve  days,  almost 
without  power  for  continuous  thought  or  attention  ; 
and  it  was  soon  but  too  evident  that  his  case  was 
hopeless,  though  affection  clung  to  hope  almost  to 
the  last. 

About  nine  o'clock  of  Saturday  evening,  he 
was  aroused  from  a  state  of  partial  stupor  by  the 
arrival  of  Judge  Lyman.  Then  the  mist  cleared 
away,  and  the  light  of  his  soul  shone  out  most 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  39 

gloriously  during  what  proved  to  be  the  closing 
hours.  Of  these  closing  hours  we  have  read 
many  most  touching  descriptions  from  the  written 
and  the  printed  page,  and  without  doubt,  even  at 
this  interval  of  time,  many  persons  retain  a  vivid 
remembrance  of  the  scene  ;  but  we  cannot  refrain 
from  presenting  it  again,  in  the  hope  that  the  les 
son  may  fall  under  some  eyes  which  else  would 
not  read  it.  And  we  are  the  rather  inclined  to 
dwell  upon  the  hour  of  death,  because  the  spirit 
which  adorned  and  ennobled  it  animated  the 
whole  life,  —  because  it  did  not  stand  out  as  an 
exception,  but  entirely  corresponded  with  all  the 
rest  of  his  days. 

He  began  with  prayer  to  God  that  he  might 
have  strength  to  meet  the  duties  arid  trials  of  the 
hour,  and  then,  taking  the  hand  of  Judge  Lyman, 
whom  he  called  "  the  best  friend  any  man  ever 
had,"  his  soul  seemed  to  overflow  with  gratitude, 
and  he  numbered  up  his  mercies  with  thankful 
acknowledgment.  "  There  seems,"  he  said,  "  to 
be  a  most  happy  combination  of  circumstances  at 
this  hour,  —  the  coming  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Lyman, 
the  sight  of  my  dear  son,  the  best  medical  advice, 
and  the  comforts  of  a  devoted  brother's  home  all 
lavished  upon  me  :  these  last  especially  move  my 
heart  to  gratitude.  God's  blessing  rest  upon  him 


40  MEMOIR    OF 

who  has  been  more  than  a  brother  to  me  in  my 
feebleness  !  "  And  then  he  passed  to  some  sober 
words  of  religious  trust,  and  to  some  thoughtful 
and  kind  suggestions  with  reference  to  his  worldly 
affairs.  "  My  confidence,"  he  said,  "  is  in  the 
mercy  of  God,  as  revealed  in  the  Gospel.  0,  my 
confidence  in  God  at  this  hour  is  worth  more  to 
me  than  riches,  or  honor,  or  any  thing  else  that 
this  world  has  !  "  He  said  that  he  had  not  been 
without  a  deep  sense  of  the  responsibilities  which 
pressed  upon  him,  and  that  he  had  been  surprised 
at  his  success,  at  the  clearness  of  his  decisions, 
and  the  absence  of  mental  wavering.  This  power 
he  regarded  as  an  answer  to  prayer.  He  trusted 
that  he  had  been  conscientious  in  the  discharge  of 
his  public  duties ;  but  he  added,  "  Thou,  God, 
knowest !  "  Heaven,  he  said,  had  ever  been  re 
garded  by  him  as  the  abode  of  those  who  culti 
vated  their  moral  and  intellectual  powers  to  the 
greatest  advantage,  and  that  to  do  this  had  been 
his  aim.  "  I  consider  human  happiness  as  exactly 
measured  by  the  amount  of  happiness  which  we 
are  able  to  confer  upon  others."  With  the  greatest 
collectedness  of  manner  and  the  method  which  had 
ever  characterized  him,  he  gave  a  few  simple  di 
rections  about  his  worldly  affairs,  and  commend 
ed  his  household  to  the  God  of  the  fatherless  and 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  41 

of  the  widow.  He  hoped  to  have  made  full  pro 
vision  for  them  in  pecuniary  matters,  but  God  had 
otherwise  ordered  it.  To  each  of  his  friends  who 
were  present  he  addressed  words  of  affection  or  of 
disinterested  counsel,  pouring  out,  for  the  last  time 
on  earth,  the  tide  of  his  full,  warm  heart.  And 
then  praying  again,  partly  in  the  words  which  our 
Lord  hath  taught  us,  and  expressing  again  his 
faith  in  the  religion  of  Jesus,  he  passed  away. 

We  have  given  many  of  the  last  thoughts,  and 
some  few  of  the  last  words,  of  this  good  man ; 
but  it  was  the  spirit  that  pervaded  all,  and  even 
beamed  out  from  his  calm  face,  that  made  the 
chamber  of  death  holy  and  blessed  and  peaceful. 
His  friends  felt,  as  for  more  than  an  hour  he  thus 
uttered  himself  to  them,  that  the  heart  spake,  — 
spake  because  it  could  not  be  silent.  The  throb- 
bings  of  anguish  ceased  as  the  sweet,  eloquent 
words  fell  from  his  lips,  and  tears  ceased  to  flow. 
Those  who  were  gathered  about  the  bed  of  death 
seemed  to  be  translated  for  the  moment  with  one 
whose  soul,. just  ready  to  take  its  flight,  brought 
heaven  and  earth  together.  It  was  a  spontaneous 
outpouring  from  the  heart,  and  it  could  heal  the 
wounds  of  the  heart.  Thankfulness  and  hope 
for  the  moment  prevailed  over  deep  grief,  and,  in 
dying  as  in  living,  the  departing  spirit  blessed  and 
4* 


42  MEMOIR   OF 

strengthened  his  friends.  A  widow  and  six  chil 
dren  remained  to  mourn  his  departure. 

Judge  Howe  was  buried  where  he  died,  in 
the  city  of  Boston,  with  every  fitting  honor,  the 
members  of  the  Suffolk  bar,  to  whom  Chief- 
Justice  Parker  addressed  a  very  eloquent  dis 
course  upon  the  services  and  character  of  the  de 
parted,  following  him  to  the  grave.  And  so,  after 
an  all  too  brief  sojourn  of  forty-three  years,  the 
wise  and  faithful  man  passed  from  our  sight. 
When  such  men  die,  we  can  hardly  doubt  whether 
the  soul  is  immortal  or  no.  Only  a  negative  an 
swer  can  be  given  to  the  question,  Would  God, 
the  life-giver,  extinguish  such  a  life  ? 

We  must  turn  now  to  the  blessed  legacy  that  re 
mained, —  the  character,  the  example,  the  cheer 
ing,  quickening  remembrance,  still  fresh  in  the 
minds  of  many  friends,  of  work  well  done,  of  a 
life  well  spent. 

To  the  character  of  Judge  Howe  as  a  public 
servant,  as  a  jurist,  as  a  friend,  and  as  a  Christian, 
the  most  ample  and  delightful  testimony  was 
promptly  borne  by  his  brethren  of  the  legal  pro 
fession,  by  his  attached  pastor,  and  by  many 
friends  in  all  the  walks  of  life,  —  his  pupils, 
amongst  the  rest,  not  failing  to  express  their  hi^h 
sense  of  his  devoted  services.  But  it  is  a  sub- 


HON.    SAMUEL  HOWE.  .          43 

ject  to  which  it  is  good  to  return.  His  was  a 
memory  that  should  be  kept  fresh  and  green,  and 
his  example  may  be  the  more  widely  valuable 
because  his  distinction  was  not  that  of  brilliant 
genius,  startling  with  its  inspirations,  but  the  pre 
eminence  of  well-balanced  and  faithfully  devel 
oped  talent.  Nature  had  doubtless  done  much 
for  him,  but  he,  on  his  part,  had  faithfully  second 
ed  her  efforts,  and  one  of  his  best  gifts  was  the 
power  of  close  and  long-continued  application, 
which  will  always  be  numbered  amongst  the  chief 
elements  of  distinguished  ability. 

Judge  Howe  was  characterized  from  the  begin 
ning  by  a  large  mind,  capacious  enough  to  em 
brace  the  many  sides  of  the  subjects  that  present 
ed  themselves  to  his  attention.  In  thorough,  com 
plete  investigations  he  loved  to  exercise  himself, 
and,  unlike  many  who  are  able  to  take  compre 
hensive  views,  he  was  singularly  free  from  indif 
ference,  or  a  want  of  confidence  in  our  ability  to 
discover,  at  least,  a  valuable  portion  of  truth.  He 
was  an  Eclectic  without  being  a  Pyrrhonist.  Un 
like  too  many  who  profess  to  find  truth  every 
where,  he  did  not  end  in  finding  it  nowhere.  He 
did  not  exhaust  the  whole  power  of  his  intellect  in 
weighing  objections,  difficulties,  and  negations. 
He  had  none  of  that  morbid  feeling  about  testi- 


44  MEMOIR   OF 

mony  which  places  all  history  in  doubt,  and  will 
have  it  that  either  there  are  no  facts,  or  that  nobody 
can  say  what  they  are.  A  very  retentive  mem 
ory  rendered  the  accumulation  of  the  materials  for 
thought  comparatively  easy,  so  that  glowing  iron 
was  never  lacking  in  the  furnace  or  upon  the 
anvil.  He  wrought  without  ceasing.  There  was 
no  moment  during  which  rust  could  even  begin  to 
accumulate.  His  mind  was  mainly  exercised 
upon  his  profession,  and  yet  he  was  well  aware 
that  no  man  who  knows  but  one  thing  can  know 
that  one  thing  thoroughly,  and,  for  the  sake  of  his 
profession  as  well  as  for  the  love  of  good  learn 
ing,  he  took  a  wide  range  in  his  studies,  and  had 
cultivated  no  mean  literary  taste.  As  every  man 
must,  whose  professional  labors  are  exacting,  he 
occupied  himself  chiefly  with  models  in  literature, 
and  loved  to  read  Shakspeare  and  Milton  again 
and  again,  rather  than  to  sacrifice  intrinsic  value 
to  a  craving  after  variety.  His  experience  in 
teaching  was  invaluable  to  him,  and  he  continu 
ally  surprised  inquirers  after  legal  references  by 
giving  them  from  memory  the  exact  volume  and 
the  very  page. 

If  to  all  this  we  add  a  conscientious  regard  for 
truth  and  justice,  and  an  ardent  love  of  his  profes 
sion,  we  shall  not  be  surprised  to  learn,  that,  "  be- 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  45 

fore  he  had  fully  reached  the  meridian  of  life,  he 
was  acknowledged  by  those  that  best  knew  him 
to  have  few  equals  in  his  profession."  '•  As  a 
judge,  he  won  golden  opinions  from  all.  Clear, 
exact,  methodical,  quick  to  perceive,  vigorous  to 
despatch,  patient  to  investigate,  eager  only  to 
reach  the  truth,  always  impartial  and  always  cour 
teous,  devoted  to  his  work,  he  could  not  fail  to 
satisfy  the  members  of  the  bar  and  all  concerned 
with  him  in  judicial  transactions.  He  was  digni 
fied,  yet  kind  and  simple,  and  his  relations  to  the 
different  parties  in  the  court-house  were  rather 
friendly  than  formal.  He  believed  that  there  are 
limits  to  individual  responsibility,  and  was  free 
from  that  morbid  conscientiousness  which  would 
hold  every  man  accountable  for  every  thing. 
He  felt  that  he  sat  upon  the  bench,  not  to  make, 
but  to  expound  law,  yet  he  was  the  fast  friend 
of  liberty  and  progress,  and  one  of  the  first  to  in 
sist  upon  the  importance  of  reforming  as  well  as 
of  punishing  criminals.  He  was  a  man  upon 
whom  humanity  could  have  relied  in  the  darkest 
hours.  "  He  reverenced  authority,"  wrote  his 
friend  Sedgwick,  —  as  indeed  a  lawyer  is  bound 
to  do,  —  "  but  he  loved  truth."  He  always  aimed 
at  principles. 

*  Judge  Williams. 


46  MEMOIR    OF 

When  it  is  considered  that  he  owed  nothing 
whatever  to  patronage  or  favorable  circumstances 
of  any  sort,  and  that  he  was  never  a  very  brilliant 
or  showy  man,  his  early  success  is  sufficient  evi- 
•  dence  of  his  iron  industry  and  indomitable  en 
ergy.  He  did  the  work  that  was  given  him  to  do 
so  well,  with  such  a  patient,  masterly  hand,  let 
the  labor  and  the  reward  be  ever  so  trivial,  that  the 
great  tasks  of  society  came  to  him  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  had  his 
life  been  spared,  he  would  have  steadily  risen  to 
a  proud  eminence.  "  Already,"  said  Judge  Wil 
liams,  "  the  public  sentiment  seemed  to  have  des 
ignated  him  for  a  higher  judicial  station,  where 
his  merits  would  have  been  still  more  conspicuous, 
and  the  sphere  of  his  influence  still  more  exten 
sive  and  permanent."  Let  all  young  persons 
who  cherish  a  worthy  ambition  attentively  con 
sider  his  steady  upward  way ;  let  them  observe 
that  he  knew  nothing  as  a  trifle,  —  that  he  called 
no  useful  work  mean,  —  that  he  stood  in  his  lot 
where  God  placed  him,  and  never  mistook  noto 
riety  for  fame,  and  never  feared  lest  he  should 
not  pass  for  his  full  value.  He  sought  learning, 
and  not  merely  a  reputation  for  learning,  —  the 
wisdom  that  would  deserve  and  worthily  fill  a  sta 
tion,  and  not  the  mere  station  itself,  —  and  his 
well-directed  efforts  found  their  reward. 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  47 

But  we  are  most  concerned  to  direct  attention 
to  the  moral  and  religious  qualities  of  this  eminent 
man.  It  does  one's  soul  good  to  turn  to  these, 
amidst  so  many  melancholy  examples  of  pervert 
ed  talent,  to  know  that  here  was  a  man  truly  wise, 

—  a  man  truly  consecrated,  —  a  man  guided  by 
the  great  God  above  us,  —  a  man  filled  with  a 
pure,  strong  faith  in  truth  and  duty  and  heaven, 

—  a  man  verily  persuaded  that  the  good  tidings 
which  are  by  Jesus  Christ  are  worth  more  than 
riches  and  fame,  and  that  His  life  is  the  world's 
best  treasure.       How   does  such  a  sober,  well- 
ordered,  minutely  faithful  Christian  life  contrast 
with  the  reckless  career  of  many  a  gifted  and,  as 
the  world  says,  honorable  man  !     Goodness  must 
be  joined  to  greatness  to  call  forth,  what  is  more 
than  our  admiration,  our  reverence  and  love. 

Judge  Howe  showed  "  piety  at  home."  He 
found  there  his  first  duties,  as  well  as  his  purest 
joys.  Every  morning  the  sacrifice  of  family 
prayer  was  offered  to  Him  who  is  the  Light  of  our 
dwellings,  and  the  devout  spirit  that  blessed  the 
first  hour  blessed  every  succeeding  one.  It  was 
first  love  to  God  and  then  love  to  the  household, 

—  a  love  that  asked,  How  much  can  I  do  ?   not, 
How  little  will  serve  ?     He  preferred  his  own 
fireside   and   the   quiet    intercourse   of    familiar 


48  MEMOIR   OF 

friends  to  what  are  called  the  pleasures  of  soci 
ety,  the  fashionable  amusements  of  the  world,  and 
yet  he  did  not  lay  down  rules  for  others  in  such 
matters,  and  was  far  enough  from  a  Pharisaical 
dread  of  innocent  amusements.  For  the  sake  of 
his  family,  he  was  minutely  economical  in  all  his 
expenditures.  By  contracting  his  personal  wants, 
he  was  enabled  to  provide  well  for  a  large  family 
and  maintain  a  hospitable  home,  and  leave  a  por 
tion  for  those  who  survived  his  early  death. 
Prudence  with  him  was  founded  upon  principle, 
—  it  was  a  part  of  his  faithfulness.  In  these  days 
of  reckless  extravagance  and  unauthorized  luxury, 
economy  is  a  trait  worth  dwelling  upon. 

We  need  not  say  that  in  his  intercourse  with 
the  world,  in  the  performance  of  his  various  duties 
to  society,  as  a  neighbour,  as  an  advocate,  and 
as  an  expounder  of  law,  Judge  Howe  sought  to 
be  guided  by  conscience.  He  was  a  disciple  of 
James  as  well  as  of  Paul,  even  as  they  were  both 
disciples  of  Christ,  and  he  believed  that  by  works 
a  man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith  only.  Eecog- 
nizing  the  claim  of  society  upon  every  competent 
man  for  labors  which  are  not  included  within  the 
common  departments  of  activity,  he  took  a  deep 
interest  in  the  education  of  the  people.  The 
public  school  he  regarded  as  second  in  importance 


HON.    SAMUEL    HOWE.  49 

to  none  of  our  institutions,  and  we  may  add,  that, 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  a  trustee  of  Am- 
herst  College,  under  the  appointment  of  the  State. 

Knowing  what  sacrifices  he  made  for  the  sake 
of  public  worship,  and  how  much  he  prized  an  in 
telligent  and  faithful  ministration  of  the  Gospel, 
we  shall  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  he  was 
constant  in  his  attendance  at  the  sanctuary,  and 
carried  thither  not  merely  the  outward  presence, 
but  his  mind  and  heart.  He  had  formed  a  high 
standard  of  pulpit  services,  and  earnestly  desired 
that  every  facility  for  improvement  should  be  af 
forded  to  the  clergy.  For  this,  as  well  as  for  the 
sake  of  liberality,  he  labored  to  secure  freedom 
and  frequency  in  ministerial  exchanges.  Of  the 
peculiar  type  of  his  religious  views  we  have  al 
ready  given  an  account,  and  we  will  only  add, 
that,  whilst  he  was  deeply  interested  in  the  form 
of  Christianity  which  commended  itself  to  his  best 
reason,  he  was  not  insensible  to  the  danger  of  at 
tempting  any  violent  and  sudden  revolution  in 
religious  opinions,  and  was  ever  the  advocate  of 
moderate  measures,  —  striving  rather  to  build  than 
to  destroy,  and  to  give  more  than  he  took  away. 

We  have  endeavoured  to  call  attention  to  some 
of  the  features  of  this  rare  character.  Had  it  not 
been  so  exactly  balanced,  our  task  would  have 
5 


50  MEMOIR    OF    HON.    SAMUEL   HOWE. 

been  easier,  but  far  less  profitable.  Striking  char 
acters  are  more  common  than  complete  charac 
ters.  Without  undergoing  any  of  the  painful  pro 
cesses  of  self-culture,  without  labor  and  self- 
denial,  we  may  succeed  in  startling  the  world,  in 
outraging  its  prejudices,  and,  it  may  be,  in  break 
ing  its  slumbers.  But  the  most  blessed  and  the 
most  abiding  influences  proceed  only  from  those 
who  strive,  in  all  soberness  and  with  unceasing 
care,  to  hold  the  balance  even  within  their  own 
souls. 

These  facts  of  human  life  are  affectionately 
presented  to  every  susceptible  mind,  especially  to 
those  whose  characters  are  all  unformed,  in  the 
hope  that  they  may  increase  the  desire  for  Chris 
tian  excellence,  —  in  the  hope  that  they  may  help 
a  little  to  outweigh  the  world  in  a  very  worldly 
age.  The  purpose  of  the  writer  will  have  been 
accomplished,  if  these  few  unpretending  pages 
shall  lead  any  minds  to  more  earnest  meditation 
upon  the  things  which  are  true  and  lovely,  and  to 
a  vital,  operative  faith  in  the  Son  of  God. 


51 


[The  following  Letter,  from  the  former  pastor  of  the 
First  Congregational  Church  in  Deerfield,  Mass.,  was 
addressed  to  the  author  of  the  previous  Memoir,  in  re 
ply  to  some  inquiries  which  he  had  made.  The  writer 
enjoyed  the  best  opportunities  for  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  character  of  his  parishioner,  and  his  testimony 
is  very  valuable.  Moreover,  it  will  afford  great  satis 
faction  to  many  to  hear  again  from  a  devoted  servant  of 
Christ,  whose  labors  in  his  Master's  vineyard  have 
been  so  abundant,  and  who  has  never  failed,  though 
long  since  smitten  with  blindness,  "  to  do  what  he 
could  "  in  the  cause  of  Christ  and  of  humanity.] 


DEERFIELD,  October  23,  1849. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, — 

In  the  history  of  the  wise  and  good,  it  has 
been  a  rare  thing  for  so  many  encomiums  and 
lamentations  to  be  drawn  forth  by  their  depart 
ure  from  this  life,  as  were  produced  by  what 
is  generally  regarded  as  the  premature  death  of 
the  late  Judge  Howe.  For  some  ten  or  fifteen 
years  he  had  been  known  and  honored  in  the 
western  towns  of  Massachusetts  as  a  candid  and 
able  advocate  at  the  bar,  and  in  the  capacity  of 


52  LETTER. 

judge,  in  which  he  afterward  acted,  he  occasion 
ally  visited  most,  if  not  all,  the  other  counties  in 
this  State,  and  became  known,  not  only  to  the 
members  of  the  bar  and  others  who  had  business 
in  our  courts,  but  to  many  of  the  clergy,  of  whose 
society  he  was  fond.  Hence,  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  he  was  honorably  noticed,  not  only  in  our 
principal  periodicals,  but  in  sermons  preached  in 
different  places  and  afterwards  published.  Still, 
there  are  comparatively  few  amongst  those  who 
are  under  thirty  years  of  age  who  know  any  thing 
more  of  him  than  that  he  once  lived  and  died  re 
spected  and  beloved.  The  present  and  the  future, 
in  our  new  publications,  press  so  constantly  on  the 
attention  of  readers,  that  the  past  is  in  danger  of 
being  forgotten  and  disregarded  by  the  multitude 
almost  as  soon  as  it  is  past.  I  am  pleased,  there 
fore,  with  the  proposal  to  bring  up  anew  the  char 
acter  of  Judge  Howe,  as  a  happy  illustration,  if 
not  an  evidence,  of  the  efficacy  of  that  faith 
which,  as  we  believe,  was  "  once  delivered  to  the 
saints." 

The  second  marriage  of  Judge  Howe,  in  1813, 
led  to  my  first  acquaintance  with  him,  which  soon 
became  intimate,  and  continued  till  the  time  of  his 
decease.  We  and  our  families  frequently  ex 
changed  visits,  and  as  he  and  his  wife  were  for 


LETTER.  53 

about  eight  years  members  of  our  church,  they 
passed  the  Sabbath  with  us  whenever  they  found 
it  convenient  to  attend  the  communion-service, 
which,  after  their  removal  from  Worthington  to 
Northampton,  they  frequently  did.  I  mention 
these  circumstances  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
what  opportunities  I  had  for  learning  his  true 
character. 

In  order  to  give  the  character  of  Judge  Howe 
its  full  and  proper  influence  in  its  moral  and  relig 
ious  bearing,  it  is  of  some  consequence  to  con 
sider  how  he  stood  as  a  lawyer,  —  how  his  mind 
had  been  trained,  —  what  were  his  habits  of 
thought  and  his  intellectual  attainments.  In  re 
gard  to  these  things,  I  suppose  it  to  be  an  unques 
tionable  fact,  that  he  was  deeply  versed  in  the  law, 
that  his  views  were  penetrating  and  comprehen 
sive,  and  that  his  conclusions  and  decisions  were 
candid,  deliberate,  and  correct,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  highest  tribunal,  being  as  seldom  overruled 
as  those  of  any  judge  on  either  bench.  I  well 
remember,  that,  in  conversation  with  the  Hon. 
Charles  Jackson,  he  spoke  of  Samuel  Howe  and 
the  late  John  Pickering  as  the  fairest  candidates 
for  a  seat  on  the  supreme  bench  whenever  a  va 
cancy  should  occur.  I  think,  however,  that  there 
was  no  vacancy  on  that  bench  till  after  Mr.  Howe 
5* 


54  LETTER. 

was  appointed  a  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas, 
where  his  influence  was  afterwards  found  too  im 
portant  to  be  spared.  So  far  as  human  authority, 
therefore,  is  of  any  weight  in  matters  of  religious 
speculation,  Judge  Howe  seems  fully  entitled  to 
such  an  influence.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  conclusions  he  formed  on  these  high  sub 
jects  were  the  results  of  a  candid  and  deliberate 
investigation,  with  a  mind  accustomed  to  compre 
hensive  views  and  a  vigorous  scrutiny. 

Judge  Howe  was  born  and  bred  under  the  com 
mon  influences  of  the  Calvinistic  faith.  His  fa 
ther  was  of  that  school.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Forward,  under  whose  ministry 
he  passed  his  early  years,  of  the  preachers  he 
heard  while  preparing  for  college  at  Deerfield 
Academy,  and  of  most,  if  not  all,  the  public  in 
structors  in  and  about  Williams  College,  where, 
indeed,  the  Assembly's  Catechism,  or  something 
like  it,  was  then  a  classic.  Perhaps  he  was  never 
an  advocate  for  any  of  the  Calvinistic  doctrines, 
but  he  acquiesced  in  them  for  several  years.  I 
once  inquired  of  him  by  what  means  his  views 
had  been  changed  with  reference  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  and  he  told  me  that  his  first  doubts 
were  excited  by  hearing  two  men  argue  on  the 
subject,  and  that  his  mind  was  less  affected  by  the 


LETTER.  55 

strength  of  the  arguments  on  the  Unitarian  side 
than  by  the  weakness  of  those  in  support  of  the 
Trinity.  He  was  doubtless  surprised  to  find  that 
the  doctrine,  which  he  had  been  taught  to  regard 
as  the  rock  on  which  the  whole  Christian  system 
is  founded,  was,  after  all,  on  examination,  to 
crumble  into  sand  and  dust.  His  subsequent  ex 
amination  resulted  in  a  thorough  change  of  views. 
I  do  not  mean  that  he  embraced  all  the  sentiments 
which  are  now  held  by  most  Unitarians,  but  that 
he  discarded  all  the  objectionable  points  in  the 
Athanasian  and  Calvinistic  creeds. 

Judging,  as  we  are  taught  to  do,  the  tree  by  its 
fruits,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  Judge  Howe, 
both  before  and  after  the  change  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  had  something  in  his  faith  which  produced 
the  proper  effect  in  his  heart  and  life.  He  did 
not,  indeed,  make  a  public  profession  of  religion 
until  he  had  been  settled  in  a  family  for  several 
years.  No  one,  I  suppose,  ever  questioned  his 
strict  integrity.  He  was  a  pattern  of  candor, 
kindness,  and  generosity.  He  was  eminently  a 
domestic  man.  In  all  the  pressure  of  professional 
business,  he  frequently,  if  not  generally,  spent  a 
part  of  the  evening  in  reading  to  his  family  such 
books  as  he  thought  would  be  interesting  and  im 
proving.  Such  is  the  testimony  of  one  who  was 


56  LETTER. 

a  member  of  his  family  about  four  years.  Such 
was  his  industry  and  perseverance  in  what  he  re 
garded  as  the  great  business  of  his  life,  that  we  are 
surprised  to  see  how  much  he  accomplished  in 
the  intervals  of  such  painful  infirmities  as  would 
have  rendered  most  others  inefficient  and  inactive. 
Indeed,  some  of  his  duties  which  required  a  close 
and  long-continued  application  of  the  mind  were 
discharged  under  violent  headaches. 

After  the  change  which  took  place  in  the  relig 
ious  views  of  Judge  Howe,  he  could  not  associate 
himself  with  any  of  the  churches  in  his  neighbour 
hood,  on  account  of  their  exclusive  creeds.  At  the 
close  of  the  year  1815,  however,  he  became  so 
much  impressed  with  the  duty  of  Christian  com 
munion,  that,  with  his  wife,  he  proposed  to  join 
the  church  in  Deerfield,  which  was  then  the  near 
est  into  which  they  could  be  received,  though  at 
the  distance  of  more  than  thirty  miles  by  any  com 
fortable  road.  They  were  accordingly  admitted 
to  that  communion  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  1816, 
and  frequently  attended  church  till  the  establish 
ment  of  the  Unitarian  society  in  Northampton. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  can  better  close  this  ac 
count  than  by  referring  to  the  mutual  attractions 
between  Judge  Howe  and  the  late  Professor  Fris- 
bie.  They  met  for  the  first  time  in  the  year 


LETTER.  57 

1821.  Mr.  Frisbie,  in  one  of  his  vacations,  was 
going  to  visit  his  mother  and  sister  in  Ipswich,  and 
Judge  Howe  was  on  his  way  thither  to  hold  a  court. 
They  rode  in  the  same  stage-coach,  and  by  some 
means  were  introduced  to  each  other,  and  fell 
into  conversation,  which  continued  during  a  con 
siderable  part  of  the  journey  and  excited  in  them 
such  a  degree  of  mutual  satisfaction  and  admira 
tion,  that  each  of  them  afterwards  expressed  to  me 
his  peculiar  delight  in  the  other.  They  were  in 
deed  kindred  spirits,  having  many  striking  analo 
gies  both  intellectual  and  moral.  They  were  both 
independent  in  their  judgments  of  persons  and 
things,  not  allowing  themselves  to  be  controlled 
by  any  human  authority  in  those  things  in  which 
they  were  capable  of  forming  an  opinion  for 
themselves.  At  the  same  time,  they  were  both 
remarkable  for  their  candor  and  the  unassuming 
manner  in  which  they  conversed  with  others. 
They  were  alike  in  the  quickness  of  their  moral 
sensibilities,  in  their  strict  adherence  to  what  they 
regarded  as  right,  and  in  their  high  sense  of 
honor,  —  that  true  honor  which  is  founded  in  rec 
titude  and  generous  feeling.  Both  were  acute  in 
their  intellectual  perceptions,  and  comprehensive 
in  their  views  of  every  subject  of  inquiry  and  of 
contemplation.  There  were  some  diversities,  in- 


58  LETTER. 

deed,  in  the  character  of  their  minds.  Professor 
Frisbie  seems  to  have  had  more  of  the  poetic  and 
imaginative  in  the  composition  of  his  mind  than 
Judge  Howe,  though  the  latter,  from  nature  or 
from  cultivation,  had  a  high  relish  for  works  of 
imagination  and  feeling.  Perhaps,  too,  it  may  be 
said  that  Professor  Frisbie  had  more  of  original 
intuition,  and  that  the  quickness  of  mental  appre 
hension  which  was  remarkable  in  Judge  Howe 
was  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  the  discipline  he 
had  habitually  given  to  his  mind.  It  might,  in 
deed,  be  expected,  that  there  would  be  these  diver 
sities  mingled  with  the  analogies  of  their  mental 
character,  from  the  different  circumstances  in 
which  they  passed  a  great  part  of  their  years. 
Professor  Frisbie,  for  about  one  half  of  his  life, 
was  unable  to  look  into  a  book,  and  was  obliged  to 
depend  in  a  great  measure  upon  inward  resources, 
while  Judge  Howe,  with  a  full  use  of  his  eyes, 
had  the  power  and  disposition  to  derive  from 
books  whatever  aid  they  could  afford  him  in  his 
high  pursuits. 

Yours,  with  esteem, 

SAMUEL  WILLARD. 


NOTICES 


OF 

/ 


HON.  THEOPHILUS    PARSONS 


HON.  ISAAC    PARKER. 


NOTICES. 


THE  foregoing  pages  have  been  occupied  with 
a  brief  memoir  of  an  eminent  member  of  the 
legal  profession,  whose  devotion  to  religion  was 
as  conspicuous  as  his  success  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
law.  Such  testimony  to  the  importance  of  our 
spiritual  interests  will  have  for  some  minds  a  pe 
culiar  value,  because  it  cannot  be  explained  as 
professional.  It  comes,  not  from  the  school,  the 
cloister,  or  the  closet,  but  from  the  world.  And 
whilst  those  who  devote  themselves  exclusively 
to  the  study  of  religion  may  well  be  regarded  as 
best  qualified  to  pronounce  upon  its  evidences  and 
its  doctrines,  yet,  as  they  may  be  suspected  of 
narrowness  and  of  bias,  it  is  well  to  look  for  Gos 
pel  witnesses  beyond,  as  well  as  within,  the  limits 
of  the  clerical  profession.  We  would  not,  indeed, 
submit  the  high  spiritual  truths  of  Christianity  to 
the  judgment  of  a  sensual  or  a  mere  worldly 
mind  ;  to  such  a  mind  they  must  be  foolishness : 
6 


62  NOTICES. 

but  there  are  conscientious  intellects  trained  to 
health  and  strength  in  the  affairs  of  daily  life, 
whose  religious  opinions  are  well  worth  dwelling 
upon.  We  naturally  ask,  What  have  they  thought 
upon  the  subject  of  religion,  to  whose  wisdom  and 
probity  their  fellow-citizens  have  intrusted  for 
tune,  liberty,  character,  and  life,  —  whose  con 
stant  occupation,  perhaps,  has  been  the  weighing 
of  evidence,  an  effort  to  ascertain  the  claims  of 
justice  ?  It  is  fair  to  inquire,  Will  the  considera 
tions  upon  which  the  teachers  of  religion  are  ac 
customed  to  rely  bear  a  curious  scrutiny,  a  thor 
ough  sifting,  a  trial  of  witnesses,  the  rough  han 
dling  of  the  world  ?  Is  religion,  in  any  degree  or 
sense,  a  prejudice  of  narrow,  unreasoning,  timid, 
and  over-sensitive  minds  ?  Are  the  commenda 
tions  so  often  bestowed  upon  it  by  men  in  power 
and  place  merely  formal,  —  uttered  out  of  regard 
to  prevailing  public  sentiment  ? 

These  and  similar  questions  have  already,  in  the 
preceding  pages,  received  practical  answers  in  the 
life  of  Judge  Howe.  It  is  the  object  of  this  ap 
pendix  to  present  brief  sketches  of  the  religious 
life  and  opinions  of  two  other  eminent  jurists, 
whose  Christian  examples  were  conspicuous  in 
their  day,  and  whose  well-earned  names  may  help 
to  draw  attention  to  the  Gospel. 


NOTICES.  63 

Nearly  a  century  ago,  in  the  year  1750,  THEOPH- 
ILUS  PARSONS  was  born  in  the  parish  of  By  field, 
within  the  ancient  town  of  Newbury.  His  father 
was  the  clergyman  of  Byfield.  Having  prepared 
himself  for  college  at  Dummer  Academy,  in  that 
place,  under  Master  Moody,  an  honored  and 
gifted  teacher,  he  passed  the  usual  undergradu 
ate's  course  at  Cambridge,  and,  after  receiving  his 
degree,  in  1769,  commenced  the  study  of  law  at 
Falmouth,  now  Portland.  The  conflagration  of 
that  place  by  the  British  compelled  him  to  return 
to  his  father's  house,  where  he  was  so  fortunate 
as  to  find  the  venerable  Judge  Trowbridge,  the 
most  learned  New  England  lawyer  of  his  time, 
under  whose  direction  he  laid  the  foundation  of 
his  own  preeminent  legal  attainments.  He  after 
wards  commenced  practice  in  Newburyport,  and 
terminated  a  most  distinguished  career  at  the  bar 
by  accepting,  in  the  year  1806,  the  appointment 
of  Chief  Justice  of  our  Commonwealth.  His  death 
was  not  so  premature  as  that  of  Judge  Howe,  yet 
he  did  not  reach  the  threescore  years  and  ten 
allotted  for  our  earthly  sojourn,  but  was  taken 
away  at  the  age  of  sixty-three,  in  the  midst  of  a 
career  of  the  highest  usefulness. 

The  fame  of  Judge  Parsons  as  a  lawyer  rests 
upon  the  highest  authority.  The  late  Chief-Jus- 


64  NOTICES. 

tice  Parker  and  Judge  Story  pronounced  him,  not 
only  the  man  of  his  age,  but  the  man  of  his  cen 
tury.  Even  those  who  were  not  his  friends  styled 
him  the  giant  of  the  law.  "  He  seemed,"  said 
Judge  Parker,  "  to  form  a  class  of  intellect  by 
himself."  He  was  deeply  read  in  the  "  ancient 
books  of  the  common  law,"  and  without  a  rival  in 
the  power  of  reasoning  and  in  keen  discernment. 
The  most  competent  judges,  speaking  advisedly, 
did  not  hesitate  to  say  that,  had  he  lived  in  Eng 
land,  he  would  have  been  made  Lord  Chief  Jus 
tice.  Accustomed  to  pursue  his  legal  studies  far 
beyond  the  immediate  demands  of  his  profession, 
he  was  prepared  for  the  most  unexpected  emer 
gencies,  and,  by  the  promptness  of  his  decisions, 
even  exposed  himself  to  the  suspicion  of  rashness, 
—  a  suspicion  which  was  soon  changed  into  as 
tonishment  at  the  extent  of  his  resources  and  the 
amount  of  his  reserved  power.  We  must  add, 
that  the  studies  of  Judge  Parsons  were  not  con 
fined  to  professional  subjects.  He  found  recreation 
in  such  extreme  opposites  as  the  higher  mathe 
matics  and  works  of  fiction.  With  one  or  the 
other  of  these,  indifferently,  he  was  accustomed  to 
amuse  himself.  He  was  besides  a  good  classical 
scholar,  and  quite  a  proficient  in  the  Greek  lan 
guage  and  literature,  the  study  of  which,  aban- 


NOTICES.  65 

doned  upon  leaving  college,  he  resumed  at  the 
age  of  forty.  His  mind  was  stored  with  that  fa 
miliar  and  pleasant  learning,  those  facts  and  anec 
dotes,  which  add  so  much  to  the  enjoyment  of  so 
cial  intercourse,  and  it  was  his  delight  to  instruct 
and  amuse  others,  especially  the  young. 

In  his  public  and  private  relations  Judge  Par 
sons  was  without  reproach,  —  a  man  of  high  in 
tegrity  and  of  warm-hearted  kindness,  a  good 
father,  and  a  devoted  friend,  as  well  as  a  patron  of 
literature  and  a  public-spirited  citizen.  That  he 
had  his  faults  is  not,  of  course,  denied,  but  they 
were  not  such  as  to  interfere  seriously  with  ad 
miration  for  his  great  and  good  qualities.  Upon 
these  attractive  qualities  it  would  be  pleasant  to 
dwell  at  length,  but  our  attention  ought  rather  to 
be  concentrated  upon  the  precise  points  for  the 
sake  of  which  these  few  particulars  have  been 
brought  forward. 

Judge  Parsons  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  Gos 
pel.  His  strong  and  thoroughly  trained  mind  was 
entirely  satisfied  with  its  evidences,  and  this  after 
no  hasty  examination.  It  is  a  fact  well  worth  re 
cording,  that  this  highly  gifted  logician,  this  most 
eminent  jurist,  who  had  been  employed  for  many 
years  in  sifting  and  weighing  evidence,  formed 
the  project  of  subjecting  the  Gospel  narratives 
6* 


66  NOTICES. 

of  the  resurrection  of  our  Saviour  to  strict  legal 
tests,  and,  in  pursuance  of  this  project,  carefully 
studied  these  narratives  and  compared  them  each 
with  the  other,  as  one  would  listen  to  different 
witnesses  in  a  court  of  law,  and  endeavour,  by 
combining  and  opposing  their  statements,  to  ar 
rive  at  the  truth.  The  result  of  this  inquiry  was  an 
entire  assurance  that  our  Saviour  did  rise  from  the 
dead  and  manifest  himself  to  his  disciples.  And 
this  assurance,  as  was  natural,  expanded  into  a 
strong,  rational  Christian  faith.  For  Judge  Par 
sons  doubtless  felt  that,  if  so  central,  fundamental, 
and  vital  a  fact  as  the  resurrection  of  the  crucified 
Jesus  from  the  tomb  of  Joseph  could  be  well  sub 
stantiated,  the  Gospel,  with  its  miracles,  its  les 
sons,  and  its  spirit,  must  stand.  It  may  be  added, 
that,  in  the  opinion  of  this  most  able  judge,  the 
slight  discrepancies  in  the  several  narratives 
strengthened  rather  than  weakened  the  testimony, 
by  setting  aside  at  once  the  possibility  of  collu 
sion,  and  by  showing  that  each  witness  was  an  in 
dependent  observer.  Having  subjected  the  faith 
inherited  from  his  fathers  to  this  thorough  trial, 
Judge  Parsons  made  a  public  confession  of  Chris 
tianity  by  connecting  himself  with  the  church  on 
Church  Green  in  Boston,  then  under  the  pastoral 
care  of  the  late  President  Kirkland.  In  conver- 


NOTICES.  67 

sation,  during  his  last  sickness,  with  the  successor 
of  Dr.  Kirkland,  the  still  lamented  Samuel  Cooper 
Thacher,  he  expressed  a  most  lively  faith  in  im 
mortality,  and  distinctly  referred  to  the  assurance 
which  he  had  gained  from  his  thorough  and  for 
mal  inquiry.  "  Great  men  are  not  always  wise." 
Here  was  one  who  had  grace  to  find  the  true 
wisdom.  Such  an  example  is  a  sufficient  refuta 
tion  of  that  off-hand,  superficial  skepticism,  which 
pronounces  at  sight  against  the  evidences  of 
Christianity,  and  insinuates  that  none  but  weak- 
minded  persons  can  be  satisfied  with  them. 

We  should  be  false  to  our  doctrinal  predilec 
tions  were  we  to  take  no  notice  of  the  peculiar 
Christian  views  of  Judge  Parsons.  His  sympa 
thies  were  with  those  who  sought  to  "  un-Calvin- 
ize  "  the  Congregational  Church  of  New  Eng 
land,  and  although,  in  his  day,  no  very  decided 
issue  was  made  between  the  Liberal  and  the  Or 
thodox  portions  of  the  community,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  on  which  side  he  would  have  been 
found  had  he  lived  to  see  the  lines  fully  drawn. 
His  was  one  of  the  minds  whose  meditations  and 
convictions  could  not  be  confined  within  the  cur 
rent  catechisms  and  creeds,  and  his  authority  is 
as  valuable  as  any  human  authority  can  be  to 
justify  dissent  from  these  formularies.  When 


68  NOTICES. 

human  interpretations  of  the  Bible  are  put  upon 
the  same  level  with  the  Bible  itself,  it  is  reason 
able  to  urge  that  many  wise  and  excellent  men 
have  not  been  satisfied  with  these  interpretations, 
and  there  remains  after  this  the  best  and  final  ap 
peal  to  the  "  law  and  the  testimony."  And  here 
we  must  close  this  brief  memorial,  with  the  ex 
pression  of  a  hope  that  it  may  do  a  little  to  quick 
en  a  Christian  activity  and  to  foster  a  Christian 
enthusiasm,  especially  in  the  mind  of  youth. 

We  would  next  direct  attention  to  the  late  HON. 
ISAAC  PARKER,  who  took  his  seat  upon  the  bench 
of  the  Supreme  Court  just  before  Chief-Justice 
Parsons  was  called  to  preside  over  its  deliber 
ations,  and  who  was  himself  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  court  on  the  death  of  Chief-Justice  Sewall, 
in  1814.  He  was  born  in  Boston  on  the  17th  of 
June,  1768,  and  passed  from  the  public  Latin 
School  of  the  town  to  Harvard  University,  at  the 
age  of  fourteen.  His  course  as  a  student  was 
distinguished  by  the  faithful  employment  of  his 
fine  intellectual  gifts,  as  well  as  by  friendly  man 
ners  and  purity  of  character.  After  studying 
law,  under  Judge  Tudor  of  Boston,  he  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  his  profession  in  the  town  of 
Castine,  in  Maine.  After  having  represented  his 


NOTICES.  69 

district  in  Congress  and  rendered  service  as  Unit- 
ted  States  Marshal  for  Maine,  he  was  invited,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-six,  to  sit  upon  the  bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts, — an  appoint 
ment  which,  although  it  was  at  first  declined,  he 
accepted  two  years  after.  In  this  court  he  labor 
ed  for  eight  years  as  Judge,  and  for  sixteen  years 
as  Chief  Justice,  until  death  surprised  him  in  the 
midst  of  his  honorable  and  useful  career.  He 
died  at  his  own  home  in  Boston,  after  only  a  day's 
illness,  on  Sunday,  the  25th  of  July,  1830. 

These  particulars  have  been  taken  from  an  ad 
mirable  discourse,  pronounced  from  the  pulpit  of 
the  church  in  Brattle  Square,  Boston,  by  the  pas 
tor.  To  this  discourse  and  to  a  brief  notice  of  the 
deceased  by  Judge  Story,  we  are  indebted  for  our 
impressions  of  the  abilities  and  character  of  this 
distinguished  public  servant. 

Judge  Parker,  though  sufficiently  versed  in  the 
law,  seems  not  to  have  been  so  remarkable  for  the 
extent  of  his  legal  learning  as  for  his  clear,  rapid, 
and  full  perception  of  principles,  and  his  singular 
felicity  in  the  statement  and  defence  of  opinions. 
Distinguished  early  in  life,  he  was  a  growing  man 
to  the  last.  His  ever-enlarging  mind  kept  pace  with 
advancing  station.  Always  abounding  in  labors,  he 
never  seemed  to  be  overburdened,  but  was  equal  to 


70  NOTICES. 

every  occasion  and  elastic  under  the  greatest  pres 
sure.  A  master  of  elegant  literature  as  well  as 
of  legal  science,  his  style  was  a  model  for  method, 
propriety,  fluency,  and  happy  modes  of  expres 
sion.  "  His  most  striking  characteristic,"  said 
Judge  Story,  "  was  sound  sense,  which,  though 
no  science,  is,  in  the  affairs  of  human  life,  fairly 
worth  all,  and  which  had  in  him  its  usual  ac 
companiments,  —  discretion,  patience,  judgment." 
His  mind  seems  to  have  been  most  happily  con 
stituted,  at  once  for  the  deepest  and  most  compre 
hensive  investigations  and  for  the  effective  com 
munication  of  truth,  and  those  whose  opinion  upon 
such  a  subject  is  reliable  claim  for  him  one  of  the 
very  highest  places  amongst  lawyers  and  judges. 
But  all  this  would  not  in  the  least  advance  the 
present  purpose,  could  we  not  claim  for  Judge 
Parker  the  pure,  peaceable,  and  beneficent  wis 
dom  which  is  from  above,  —  could  it  not  be  truly 
said,  that,  "  from  first  to  last,  his  was  a  truly  ex 
emplary  course."  Those  to  whom  he  was  well 
known  can  hardly  satisfy  themselves  with  com 
mending  his  high  moral  qualities.  They  speak 
most  earnestly  of  his  pure  and  friendly  heart,  — 
of  his  unbending  integrity  and  practical  benevo 
lence, —  of  his  Christian  faith  and  profession. 
Amidst  his  many  public  duties,  he  found  time  to 


NOTICES.  71 

render  good  service  in  the  great  work  of  publish 
ing  and  distributing  the  Scriptures,  and  presided 
over  the  Evangelical  Missionary  Society  and  the 
first  Temperance  Association.  The  cause  of 
education  also  found  in  him  a  devoted  and  con 
stant  friend.  Firmly  persuaded  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  Judge  Parker  made  public  profession 
of  his  faith  by  connecting  himself  with  the  church 
in  Brattle  Square,  and  as  he  believed  he  sought 
to  live.  The  friend  of  the  lamented  Buckminster, 
he  sympathized  with  him  in  the  liberal  tenden 
cies  of  his  theology,  yet,  with  him  still,  he  was  as 
free  from  bitterness  towards  believers  of  a  differ 
ent  order  as  from  any  want  of  confidence  in  his 
own  views.  He  was,  "  from  principle,  sentiment, 
habit,  and  experience,  a  religious  man."  His 
penetrating  and  comprehensive  intellect,  so  ad 
mirable  for  its  sagacity,  scope,  and  patience,  was 
satisfied  with  the  evidences  of  Christianity,  and 
careful  study  of  the  pages  upon  which  Christian 
truth  is  inscribed  led  him  to  prize  and  hold  fast 
what  are  commonly  known  as  Unitarian  views. 
Those  who  share  this  doctrinal  preference  may 
well  be  allowed  to  attach  special  value  to  his 
Christian  testimony  and  example.  Let  not  Chief- 
Justice  Parker  be  forgotten  by  those  who  have 
opinions  and  a  character  to  form. 

We  might  go  on  adding  examples  almost  with- 


X 


72  NOTICES. 

out   limit,  some  of  them   in   attestation    of 
value  and  efficacy  of  our  peculiar  views  of  -bo 
Gospel,  and   some  .of   them  in  support  of 
Christian  faith  which  is  common  to  us  all.     Of 
the  former  class,  we  may  specify  the  elder  anc 
younger  Adams,  father  and  son,  true  servant 
God  and  of  the  people,  whose  fair  fame  is 
rious  portion  of  our  national  inheritance  ;  Sano    ' 
Dexter,  the  founder  of  the  Dexter  Lecture*    i 
Biblical  Literature  in   Harvard  University 
nent  alike  for  the  accomplishments  of  mind 
the    graces    of    character;    the   venerable 
Davis,  late  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  th< 
ed    States,    a    man   in  whom  professional 
ing  and  wide  intellectual  culture  were  ble 
with  a  rare  simplicity  of  character  and  the  st 
est  religious  faith ;  and  the  late  Judge  Story 
eminent  jurist,  the  accomplished  scholar,  th( 
hearted  Christian.     Of  the  latter  class,  we 
mention  Judge  Marshall  of  our  own  country 
Sir  Matthew  Hale  and  Sir  William  Jones  of 
mother-land.    But  we  must  content  ourselves 
directing  attention  to  these  great  Christian  na 
and  with  expressing  the  hope  that  the  stud 
eminent    Christian    lives    may    help,    under 
blessing  of  God,  to  bring  us  into  a  closer 
formity  with  that  one  perfect  Life  which  ir 
best  gift  of  the  heavenly  grace. 


»A  04205 


